Fullmetal Friendships
by transcribedAmbitions
Summary: First crossover! I do not own either of these.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so I have been slacking off in my Transformers fanfiction and all, writer's block sucks, blah blah blah XD. But anyways, I want to try my hand at a crossover fanfiction. Oh yeah, and I decided not to make a Tales of Vesperia fanfiction. I just can't get any ideas. Wish I didn't lose my USB with the original storyline in it. All destractions aside, I thought it would be fun to merge my favorite anime with my favorite books series of all time! And before you even dare think it, it's NOT Twilight. I read about half the first book, thought it to be crap, and ditched. A VAMPIRE DOES NOT SPARKLE, PEOPLE! But I have to admit, Taylor Lautner is HOT. But anyways, my favorite book series is the Leviathan Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. I has all three books, number one- Leviathan, number two- Behemoth and number three, the newest book, Goliath. I haven't finished it though, so the story will start about halfway through book two and continue on until I can't go any further before reading more, so this will definatly be a good challenge for me. Just like with my very crappy single-chapter one-shot fanfiction for Fullmetal Alchemist, I will let the readers decide whether or not it will be worth doing. But I hope this one will come out better. Also, I will not be adding any characters to portray the fact that I wish I was there, it will just be the normal characters. And I'm just throwing this in here, but I really would like someone to help me with stories by reading them before I post them and help me fix them up to be better. So if anyone is interested in helping me, you can either write so in a review or PM me. And I have to say this has to be the biggest opening ever, so I'm gonna get to the story. For all of you reading this and are still reading here, thanks for actually reading this thing. Your patience is well rewarded with the story you clicked on to read. So here it is! ENJOY!

* * *

><p>"Barking bloody princes", Deryn Sharp muttered, walking along the Leviathan's large corridors, pulling the thylacine Tazza behind her.<p>

She couldn't sleep at all the night before, having to look after the still burnt Newkirk and needing to walk Tazza pretty much every five minutes. Not to mention the fact that she still had to check on the lady boffin Dr. Barlow's 'precious eggs'. Despite all the work she had to do still, she was out delivering secret messages for the Clankers.

What would the officers think if they found out she was aiding the enemy in the middle of a barking war.

Deryn sighed, trying to think of a good excuse as she got closer to the cabin. '_I was just asking our count friend if he needed anything... No. On a secret mission from the captain? No, they would check... Hm... Somebody had to keep an eye on the mutinous Clankers, and this was the best way! No, no, no_!' No matter what she tried, they all sounded too barking pathetic.

Besides, she knew the only reason she had really said yes to Alek for doing this: he had just looked so helpless lying there, pale and bandaged, unaware of whether or not they would hang him for mutiny at dawn tomorrow. All it did was make the way she felt that much harder to just push to the side.

Pushing those thoughts away, she took a deep breath and knocked on the state-room door.

After a few moments, it was opened by a tall man wearing a formal uniform. He silently stared down his sharp nose at both Deryn and Tazza. Deryn began to wonder if she should bow to the man, due to the fact that he was a count and all. Then again, Alek was a prince, which she thought to be far more important, and nobody ever bowed to him. (Me: That would be cause no one else on the bloody airship knows, you dummy.)

"What is it?" the man asked after the, well, awkward silence. Deryn straitened up a bit.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr..., um, Count Volger. I'm Midshipman Dylan Sharp."

"I know who you are."

"Right, because Alek and I, we've been fencing and that. We're friends."

"You're that idiot boy who put a knife to Alek's throat."

Deryn swallowed, trying to untangle her tongue. She was only pretending when she'd taken Alek 'hostage' back in the Alps, to try and force the Clankers to negotiate with them instead of simply blowing the airship to smitherines.

Yet under Volger's harsh, imperious gaze, the words just would not come out.

"Aye, that was me," she managed to choke out after a while. "But it was only to get your attention."

"You succeded."

"And I used the dull edge of that knife, just to be safe!" She then looked down the corridors to check for oncoming officers. "Do you suppose I could come in?"

"Why?"

"I've got a message from Alek. A secret one."

When he heard that, Count Volger's stony countenance shifted a squick. The eyebrow over his left eye arched a little and he finally steped back. Another moment passed, and Deryn and Tazza were inside the stateroom, the thylacine sniffing Volger's boots.

"What is this creature?" he asked taking yet another step backwards.

Before Deryn could explain, there was a sudden crash in the distance, followed by some shouting. Both were taken off gaurd, and Tazza instinctively began running towards the commotion, yanking his leash out of Deryn's hand.

"Great..." Deryn muttered. She turned to the Count. "I'll explain later, but if I lose Tazza, the lady bofin will have my head." With that, she chased after the disappearing thylacine.

* * *

><p>"Oww..." a blonde boy muttered as he tried to get out from under the boxes that had fallen onto him.<p>

"Brother, are you all right?" a darker haired boy asked, rushing to the first ones aid. After the crates were pushed off, the two looked around the dark room, trying to find the door in the darkness. After a few minutes of flailing about, not to mention knocking more crates over, the door opened to reveal a light-haired boy around their age, with a dog next to him. He tried to jump on the blonde boy, but, to his relief, the dog was kept back by a leash held tightly in the boys hand.

"Tazza, down." he said, and the dog sat instantly. The boy then looked to the two in the room. "What are you two stowaways doing here and how did you manage to hide without getting caught this long?" he asked.

"We aren't stowaways. My name is Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. Better known as the Hero of the People." the blonde one said.

"And I'm his younger brother, Alphonse Elric," the darker haired boy said. "What's your name?"

"Midshipman Dylan Sharp. And what's an alchemist? I've never heard of that before." he replied. Alphonse then looked to his older brother.

"Does that mean..." he started, then Edward took over.

"Yeah. We're on the other side of the gate." he said, his grin fading into a pensive frown. Edward looked up, and seeing Dylan's lost look, he smiled again. "Hey, could you tell us where we are exactly?"

"You're currently aboard the British Airbeast, the Leviathan."

"Air.." Edward started.

"..beast?" Alphonse finished. They glanced at each other, then back to Dylan, who sighed and motioned for them to follow him.

"I guess I'll have to go talk to the lady boffin about this... Mr. Rigby'll have my head..." he mumbled, thinking the two strange boys couldn't hear him, but they caught every word.

"Lady boffin? What does that mean?" Alphonse whispered to his older brother.

"I dunno, Al. But I gotta feeling we'll find out soon enough." he whispered back. Dylan looked at the two boys behind him, and noticed that not only did they have unusual hair, with the fact that Edward's hair was long and tied back in a braid and Alphonse had his in a ponytail, which really wasn't too unusual but not many boys their age would have hair like that, but they had unusual eyes, too. They both had golden eyes, though Edwards were bright gold while Alphonse had a darker variation of yellow.

"Where are you two from?" he asked, pulling them from their odd whispering.

"A small town named Resembool, in Amestris." Alphonse answered before Edward could remind him those places didn't exist past the Gate. Dylan raised his eyebrow.

"Resembool? Amestris? Never heard of them." he said.

"Uh, you said this was an air_beast_, right?" Ed asked, desperate to change the subject. Tazza barked, as if trying to answer, and tugged on his collar, trying once more to tackle Edward.

"Aye, the best beastie in the British Air Service." Dylan answered, pride hinting in his voice. He turned and saw what was hidden behind the long sleeve of Ed's red jacket: a metal arm. He turned full around stopping them. "Are you two Clanker spies?" he asked half angry have scared.

* * *

><p>Evil cliffhanger. Muahaha. So I'm going to do the same thing as before, I get five good reviews or continue votes and the story will have another chapter. But if I get ten bad reviews or discontinue votes, then the story will be discontinued and possibly up for adoption if anyone wanted to take it over. This is going to be a mix of both FMA and FMA: Brotherhood, just cause I feel like putting Ling Yao in here. Only alchemy possible is for Edward's automail, and if the story is continued I plan on adding the Homonculi and other supporting characters. And of course, Winry'll have to show up.<p>

Winry: You make his automail break, he won't be the only one to be hit by a wrench.

Me: But it makes the story flow better.

Winry: *lifts giant wrench that should really be impossible to make, let alone lift*

Me: OKAY OKAY PUT THAT THING DOWN! Anyway, I'll do my best to make this a good story. And if I survive the wrenches, and I get the votes I will add another chapter. Also I do not own anything. Fullmetal alchemist is owned by Funimation, Aniplex, and the author of the series (dunno the name) and the Leviathan trilogy is owned by the best author in history and my inspiration, Scott Westerfeld. Thank you! *off to the side: WAIT WINRY! I DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING YET! PUT THE FRIGGIN WRENCH DOWN! AGH! WRITER, MAKE HER STOP!* Mmm, sorry Ed, you're on your own. Muahaha.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so I am back. If this is uploaded, then it means I either got the five reviews or my reviewers were getting impatient or I was getting impatient. But who cares, it's uploaded.

Edward: You aren't going into another rant, are you?

No, Ed. And what about you, every time somebody calls you short-

Edward: WHO YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT YOU COULDN'T EVEN SEE HIM WITH A 20,000 TIMES MICROSCOPE!

See what I mean?

Alphonse: Brother, she didn't even call you small, she was only trying to put up an example.

And he helped me, in a strange roundabout way. So Winry, do you mind saying it? I gotta go cool Edward off.

Winry: Promise you won't break the Automail?

Sorry, can't. If Ed breaks his Automail, I give you full rights to beat him up. (Ed: *in background* HEY!)

Winry: Fine. Amorinda does NOT own us, the Fullmetal Alchemist cast, or the Leviathan Series. On with the story!

* * *

><p>Edward glanced at Alphonse, who only shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, what?"<p>

"Are you Clankers? I saw your metal arm, and only Clankers are able to do so and will." Dylan replied. Alphonse looked kinda surprised, mostly with the fact that he spotted the Automail under the white gloves and long-sleeved red jacket. Alphonse had a similar jacket, but he didn't have a prosthetic limb

"Brother, should I tell him?" Alphonse asked his older yet slightly smaller brother. (Ed: HEY!)

"Nah, I'll take care of this. I'm used to it by now." he said mostly relaxed, considering the tense aura emanating from Dylan's very feminine-like body. "How about a deal. I'll tell you the back-story of my arm if you answer my question first."

"Aye, but that depends on the question." Dylan replied.

"Are you really a boy? You look like a girl." Dylan tensed lightly, and Ed smirked. If it was anyone else, they wouldn't have seen his body tense up, but these was Edward Elric, and something as small as that wouldn't get by him, seeing as he himself was so...(Ed: Don't. You. DARE.)... Short. (Ed:I'LL KILL YOU!/ Me: Oh Winry~! Ed's gonna break his Automail!/ Ed: Damn it, I'm not- *gets hit with wrench*)

"Ed, we don't know if Dylan is a girl or not. We met a few boys who looked like girls before. Remember Envy?" Alphonse said, but Ed ignored him.

"What would give you that barking mad idea? Women aren't allowed in the service. There's only one girl, the lady boffin Dr. Barlow, and that's only because she's the granddaughter of the great Charles Darwin, the man who made all of this possible, a living airship." he said in a slightly tense voice.

"If you say so, but we won't stop until we have proof. Cutting your hair and hiding your features won't slide past us. But we need a private area to tell you about Brother." Alphonse asked. Dylan looked at the dark-haired boy, and nodded, then began to lead them to a rather large storage space, Tazza trailing behind. They were careful when entering, not wanting to topple more crates on their heads.

"Okay, now to keep up my end of the deal." Edward sighed, then removed his jacket, allowing Dylan to see the whole arm.

"I knew it, you ARE Clankers." he said bitterly.

"No, I don't even know what a Clanker is. But besides that, this isn't the only Automail I have. My left leg is Automail, too. You see, a long time ago, four years to be exact, me and Alphonse tried something... stupid." Edward started.

"Like what?"

"Well, when we were young kids, our mother died, waiting for our dad to come home." Alphonse continued, then Ed took over again.

"That bastard didn't even show up for her funeral. After that, we found ourselves a teacher to hone our skills in alchemy, then we committed its greatest taboo."

"I don't know what alchemy is, but what is the greatest taboo as you put?" Dylan asked, confused yet interested. Ed looked down, and so did Alphonse. After a fairly long silence, Alphonse spoke in a shaking voice as if reliving a bad memory. In fact, he was.

"Human Transmutation. Edward was eleven, and I was ten when it happened. We gathered the correct materials and had made the circle in our dads old office. But when we began to transmute her body, something happened."

"Al's body started to break apart, as well as my left leg. I tried to save him, but I couldn't. I managed to drag myself over to a suit of armor in the corner and bonded his soul to it with a circle drawn in my very own blood, trading my right arm." Edward stopped talking, and Alphonse had looked down as well. Dylan could see sadness in their eyes, tears that would not form.

"What about your mum, what happened to her?" Dylan asked, voice slightly cracked. As soon as he asked, the air grew more tense and upsetting.

"It wasn't her. It wasn't... wasn't human..." Alphonse said. "After Brother became the youngest State Alchemist in history, we found that the Fuhrer's Secretary was the homunculus we made, after our failed transmutation. She was called Sloth and Ed did the hardest thing any of us could imagine: he had destroyed her. But we knew that she was only a failed transmutation with our mom's face, and that helped to ease the pain. We didn't kill our mom twice, and she wasn't in anymore pain, and that was all that mattered to us." Edward slowly nodded, and Dylan saw him try hard to hide a tear that had managed to escape down his cheek.

* * *

><p>Deryn stared at the two boys in front of her. After hearing about their mom, memories of the accident with her dad came flooding back to her. She couldn't stop her voice from breaking. But she decided to change the subject.<p>

"What exactly is alchemy? If you guys had managed to succeed in bringing your mum back, then I might have been able to..." she quickly realized what she was saying and immediately stopped herself. She hadn't allowed a single person learn about her dad, not even Alek. The boys looked at her, waiting for her to go on. "I might have been able to save many a soldier lost." she covered.

"Well, alchemy is basically the science of understanding somethings mass, deconstructing it, and reconstructing it into something new. But there is also a law that all Alchemists must abide by: Equivalent Exchange. 'Man cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost.' We learned that day that nothing is equal to that of a soul, not even this whole planet. Most Alchemists have to draw a specific Transmutation Circle to transmute, but not Brother. All he has to do is clap his hands and transmute." Edward clapped his hands, then placed his left over his right elbow, and it glowed a bright blue. He moved his hand down to the fingers of his metal prosthetic, then lifted his hands to reveal a blade. Deryn widened her eyes. With alchemy, they could quickly fix ratlines that snapped after a daft airman snapped it and other stuff like that.

"Well, I have other duties to get to and I am late in doing so. If you wish to join me you can, but I will have to take you to the higher-ups soon. They'll know how to deal with you." she said, then began to walk to the door. She stopped when Edward put a hand on her shoulder.

"Tell me, what's your real name?" he asked.

"Brother.." Alphonse started.

"Save it, Al. I know this is a girl. Remember Winry?" he asked, and Alphonse nodded. "Winry is a childhood friend of ours, and my Automail mechanic. You kind of remind me of her, but less scary. I remember, every time I did something stupid or broke my Automail, she would hit me in the head with a wrench." he smiled and laughed at the memory.

"You really are a daft person, aren't you? I told you, my name is Midshipman Dylan Sharp." she said and left, leaving them to either wander and get arrested or follow her and have an excuse. It kinda scared her, the fact that they knew she was a girl, or to be more exact they suspected it. Sure, Dr. Barlow was curious about why her face was baby-smooth after she was interrupted in the middle of 'shaving' it, but she managed to cover that with the fact that she wasn't sixteen like the requirements say, but fourteen instead.

She continued back to Volger's room, the Elrics following close behind. When she reached the door, she could hear him grumbling angrily inside, things like 'idiot boy who can't keep track of time' and stuff like that. She knocked on the door, and he opened the door remarkably fast. This time, instead of glaring down on her and Tazza, he was glaring at the strange two boys behind her, the one with gold eyes and braided hair and the one with brown eyes and pony-tailed hair. She was slightly grateful for that.

"May we come in, Your Countship?" she asked, and he glanced at her for a second before stepping aside to let her in. He glared at the Elrics as they passed, and shifted uncomfortably as Tazza entered, too. Deryn rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, Tazza is a natural beastie, a thylacine from Tasmania. The only thing he really harms are curtains."

"Then what is he doing to that boy over there?" Volger asked, pointing to Edward, who had been tackled and pinned by Tazza, who was just lying on top of him as if nothing had happened.

"Get off of me you stupid mutt!" he was screaming all sorts of things until Deryn managed to pull the thylacine off him.

"Sorry bout that." she said, and Ed shook his head standing up.

"Don't worry about it, happens all the time... Unfortunately..." he muttered the last word, but her sharp ears still caught it.

"Are you sure they should be here, even though you said that you have a secret message from Alek?" the count stuck his long, thin nose at the two boys. The blonde boy laughed.

"You know, you remind me of a certain Colonel back home. Damn that Mustang..." he started muttering curses about this 'Mustang' which didn't help his standing with the Count. Deryn leaped at the chance to tell him Alek's message while the two were distracted.

"He thinks that those two German ironclads are headed for Constantinople." she said.

"And how do I know you're telling the truth?"

Deryn sighed. How was she supposed to prove it without telling him she knew about Alek being a prince and how his parent's death starting this barking war? She sighed again, figuring she had no other choice but to tell him.

"I know his secret." she said. He raised an eyebrow, and she sighed for the third time in a row. "You know, his big secret?"

"Be more specific, boy." Deryn was about to start arguing, but next thing she knew his saber, which was serving as a paperweight, was next to her throat, threatening to slice it. Tazza barked at Volger, causing the Elrics to stop talking to each other and look over, as startled as Deryn was.

"Put your blade down, Volger. If I were to be more specific, they would learn of his past, too." she muttered, and he finally understood, lowering the blade a squick.

"By the way, I was using the dull edge of the sword. Surely, you've seen a fencing saber before, have you not?" he said as Deryn grabbed the blade.

"Damn it..." she swore under her breath, releasing it.

"So, Constantinople?" he asked, to confirm Alek's suspicions. Deryn nodded, and he sheathed his blade and placed it delicately on the stack of papers.

"Alright you two, time to deliver you guys to the officers. They'll know what to do with you." she said, motioning for the boys to follow her outside. As they were leaving, however, Volger grabbed Eds right arm.

"Your arm is metal, and your left leg, too, aren't they?" Volger asked, and both Edward and Alphonse looked surprised.

"I'm amazed you can tell that, not many can until they try to destroy them." Ed said with a smirk.

"Brother, don't you find it weird that he can?" Al asked.

"Names, what are your names?" Volger asked.

"I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, and that's my YOUNGER brother Alphonse." Ed stressed the word younger.

"Shouldn't he be the older brother, considering your height?"

"Um, sir... You shouldn't really make fun of his height..." Al said, gesturing to the death glare Ed was giving the tall man.

"FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! I'M NOT SHORT! YOU PEOPLE ARE JUST ALL FREAKISHLY TALL, OKAY! ESPECIALLY YOU, YOU LONG NOSED FREAK!" Ed started screaming and Alphonse had to grab hold of his arms to make him stop, Volger reaching for his saber again. Deryn started snickering, making them all remember that she was there. As soon as she realized they were staring at him, she stood up straight and stifled her amusement.

"Alright, come on, I have other things to get to. You're all lucky I was able to pull all this off in that amount of time, and now Mr. Rigby's gonna give me an earful for taking so long, and if the lady boffin finds I'm not watching her precious cargo she's gonna have a fit. So get moving, because you," she pointed to Volger, "are technically a prisoner. And you two are currently stowaways." she finished pointing at Ed and Al. They glanced at each other, shrugged and continued walking, leaving Volger to wonder who those boys really were.

* * *

><p>"Hear that?" Corporal Bauer asked.<p>

Alek paused in his work and listened. He wiped his hands on an oily rag, and noticed that the air had begun to tremble with the very distant clamor of an engine being revived. It started as a short sputter, but eventually it grew to a low and steady roar.

He stared at the current tangle of gears he was working with, then turned to his men. "Three against one, and Klopp has his engine working first!"

"Hate to say so, sir." Bauer spread his hands, blackened with grease. "But you and I aren't much help."

Master Hoffman laughed, than clapped the gunner on his back. "I'll make an engineer of you one day, Bauer. It's that one who's hopeless."

He glanced at Mr. Hirst, who was silently watching them from the strut of the engine pod with clean hands, looking as glum as anyone who shot a kid could.

"What's this about?" Hirst asked.

Alek switched his dialogue to English. "Nothing, Mr. Hirst. Just that it sounds as though Klopp has beaten us."

"So it would seem," he said before falling back into his angsty silence. (Edward: Angsty? Really?/ Me: Get over it.)

It was less than forty-eight hours after the unfortunate encounter with the German ironclads, the Breslau and the Goeben, and in the late afternoon sun, Alek was barely able to make out the shadowy silhouette of the gears in front of him.

Alek and his men, Bauer and Hoffman, and Hirst were assigned to the engine pod on the starboard side while Klopp was assigned to the pod on the port side under guard, Count Volger serving as his translator.

After Hirst had shot Alek in the rib cage with that stupid air pistol, he and Klopp weren't allowed to be in the same engine pod. Alek wasn't under gaurd, but he figured the reason was simply due to the bandages wrapped around his upper torso. Whenever he lifted a wrench, a minor shock of pain would surge through his body.

But at least no one was locked away in the brig, for that Alek and his men were grateful. Dr. Barlow had kept her promise to convince the captain that without their help, they would only end up drifting in the breeze, or worse: the ship might go wherever it chooses to go, and that certainly wouldn't go over too well.

However, the captain's kindness came with a price: Alek, Bauer, Hoffman, Klopp and Volger were to remain on the Leviathan until the crew fully understood the new Clanker engines, regardless of how long it would take. (Edward: Sounds like Equivalent Exchange./ Me: WILL YOU SHUT UP?/ Edward: MAKE ME!/ Me: Too, easy. Winry! Ed's planning to destroy your Automail!/ Edward: EEP!)

Alek sighed. They wouldn't be getting off in Constantinople after all.  
>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Around a half hour later, the engine on the starboard side had finally sparked its way back to life. In short, it was fixed. As the smoke poured from the exhaust pipes, Master Hoffman went to work engaging the gears, and the propeller soon had started spinning.

Alek closed his eyes and reveled in the wonderful, steady thrum of the pistons. They might not be any closer to freedom, but the ship was whole again, and that made him feel better, if only a little.

"Feeling alright, sir?" Bauer asked, looking concerned.

"Just happy to be under way." Alek said, taking a long, deep breath of the salty sea air.

"Feels good to have an engine rumbling underfoot again, doesn't it?" Hoffman gestured toward Hirst. "And maybe our sulky friend here has finally picked up a few tricks."

Alek smiled. "Let's hope so."

Ever since the battle with the Ironclads, Bauer and Hoffman took a great disliking towards the chief engineer of the Leviathan. But that's to be expected, since the two had been standing right next to Alek since the tragic night he lost his mother and father, and they even gave up their careers just to keep him out of harms way. So it made sense that they wouldn't take very kindly to Alek being shot by Hirst, even if he was aiming for Klopp. In fact, that made them detest the man even further. Regardless of whether or not it was for mutiny, they didn't trust him one bit.

Pretty soon, both engines were fully operational and in tandem, and the Leviathan was back on its northward course. The surface of the water slid by faster and faster, until the Leviathan's escort of hungry seagulls and curious dolphins were left behind.

Alek decided he liked the taste of moving air better than still. The airbeast just drifted with the wind all day, matching its speed and direction, causing everything to be dead still. And now they had control of it, so the salty air was whipping at his hair and face, taking his feeling of imprisonment along as it went past.

Bauer suddenly frowned. "One of those talking things." he said.

Alek turned to see one of the ship's well-known message lizards scrambling over to them. Alek sighed, figuring it was from Dr. Barlow asking him to watch her cargo again.

When the lizard opened its mouth to deliver its message, however, it was in the voice of the master coxswain's voice. "The captain wishes the pleasure of your company on the bridge, at your earliest convenience."

Both Bauer and Hoffman looked over to Alek, understanding the English word 'captain'.

"Wants to see me at my earliest convenience," he said in German for the two to understand, and Bauer snorted. What was 'convenient' about climbing down the ratlines of a moving airship with a bruised rib?

Yet given that situation, Alek ended up smiling while he wiped his greasy hands on a spare rag. He would finally get to see the bridge, as it was the first time any of the Clankers were invited to go there. Ever since they came aboard the massive airship, he had been very curious as to how they controlled its mixture of men, fabricated beasts and machinery. Did they run things like on a German land dreadnought, with the crew on the bridge directly controlling the engines and weaponry? Or was it more along the lines of an oceangoing ship, the orders being shipped to the boiler rooms and weapon areas?

Alek turned to look Mr. Hirst in the face. "I leave you to it, sir."

The man stiffly nodded. He never apologized for the shot to Alek's rib, and not one of the officers had ever actually admitted the fact that Klopp had saved the Leviathan. But earlier, when they had started work on the engine, Hirst quietly turned his pockets out to show Alek that he was no longer carrying the compressed-air pistol.

At least that was something, Alek figured.

* * *

><p>As Alek began heading towards the ratlines for the bridge, he heard a clang after passing a door, as well as a fairly startled officer's yelp. Curious, he opened the door a little to see what happened, and found a girl in a black top with a single white stripe over its zipper and a white jumpsuit with the upper half tied around the waist. She was rubbing her head, not even noticing the unconscious officer of whom she was sitting on. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail with long tendrils hanging down in front of her pierced ears.<p>

Pierced? That was strange. Nobody had ears with chunks of metal in them. She opened her eyes, and Alek found them to be a light sky blue, and she looked around, soon spotting the open door and somehow noticing him behind it. He shrank back a bit, amazed by the fact that she could see him behind a sliver in the door, though she was yet to notice the officer underneath her.

"Don't try and hide, you creep. Show yourself." she said rather boldly as if used to this kind of stuff.

Alek stepped into the room, and she stood up, showing that she was taller than him by at least five centimeters, yet she had to be around the same age as him. He let it off as she must be from a different race than him where they are taller or something. She looked at him funny, and tensed a bit.

"You wouldn't be from Ishval, would you?" she asked in a near whisper, then stepped towards him a bit, peering into his eyes. "No, not possible, you don't have red eyes." she then shot up so her back was straight. "Okay, that's good. My name's Winry. Winry Rockbell. What's your's?" she asked, holding out her hand.

Alek grasped it firmly. "Aleksander. Miss Rockbell, could you tell me how you got here?" he asked. She looked confused.

"You mean, this isn't the Central Command Center? But all I did was enter that strange room..." she then thought of something. "Aleksander, can you tell me where I am? And please, call me Winry."

"Currently, you are in a supply room." he responded, fully confused. This Winry girl didn't dress, act or even seem like a girl, yet she made it obvious that she was, mainly from the very strange top. Alek didn't really know what to do with this girl, he never really had to deal with a most-likely gender-confused person before. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, duh. But I mean where are we as in what building is this?" she asked, and he noticed that she was suddenly clenching a rather large wrench. Alek wondered where it came from, but put it off as him failing to notice it before because he was too occupied with the strange clothing and metal pieces in her ear.

"Not a building. You're on the British airship, the Leviathan."

"Airship? I've never heard of something like that. I would love to take it apart to see how it works!" Winry said, and something sparked in her eyes. She looked like she was sniffing at the air, and she practically pounced on him after a second or two. "You smell like grease and oil. Are you an engineer?" she asked, excitement blatant in her voice.

"No, not me, but a man I know named Hoffman. He works for me."

As soon as those words left Aleks mouth, Winry began to jump around excitedly.

"I have to meet him! Nothing beats the sound of gears and pistons, the smell of oil, the movement of bearings! Just like Automail!" she squealed.

"Automail? What on Earth is that?" he asked, and she looked at him as if she had seen a ghost.

"How can you not know Automail? If your friend is an engineer, then you MUST know of it!" she started going on about this strange Automail, which Alek found was an artificial, metal limb. But that shouldn't be possible. They hardly had enough knowledge for engines and machines, so how could anyone make a prosthetic limb?

"Sorry to interrupt you, Miss, but I have something very urgent to attend to." Alek said rather formally, and he cursed himself again. Even after spending so long with these commoners, he still hadn't learned how to not act like one.

"I told you, call me Winry. And may I join you? I have to find someone, they might be aboard here too." she said. Alek mulled this over in his mind. Bringing a girl like her would certainly be a bad thing if anyone saw.

"Alright, but you need to change your appearance. I don't think we have any dresses around here, but I could probably make you look like one of my men. Put the rest of that jumpsuit on and take those metal things out of your ear." he ordered, and a very confused Winry did so. Thus it went for about ten minutes, afterwords her hair was hidden, her earrings gone and grease smudged all over her clothes.

"I still don't understand why I have to act like a boy. Where I come from, no one cares what a girl has on or whether or not she has piercings, because women are understood as fine members of society." she was about to go on another rant, but the crushed officer was beginning to regain his consciousness.

"We should probably go now. I am expected on the bridge, and I don't want the captain to think ill of me." Alek said.

"Okay, Aleksander, lead the way." she said.

"You can call me Alek if that's easier." he told her, and she smiled and nodded. Then the two walked down the hallway, leaving the officer to wonder how he had ended up on the floor with massive pain in his back, towards the ratlines that led to the bridge.

* * *

><p>Okay, now Winry is here, too! Yippee! Winry's outfit is from Brotherhood, I liked that one better than the black top from the normal FMA. That one was kinda wierd. But anyway, please review! Reviews are the thing that keeps this story alive and healthy! Well, at least alive. It's my job to keep it healthy.<p>

Winry: What happened to my wrench?

I dunno. I think it magically disappeared when you got all excited about Automail or something. It did just suddenly poof into existence the first time. Either that or you dropped it. I don't know, nor do I care.

Edward: We got such little time here, no fair!

Alphonse: Brother, please calm down. This chapter was for Alek and Winry, not us.

Deryn: Honestly, I can't complain. With all the barking work I have, I can't keep showing up for this. My only problem is that you kept making me sigh! That was annoying.

Okay, whatever. Bye, readers!


	3. Chapter 3

Yo, it's number three! I has written it!

Edward: Congratulations, genius, you stated the obvious.

I shall get Winry.

Edward: I'm gonna shut up now.

That's better.

Alphonse: You're mean.

YES! I AM EVIL! MUHAHAHAHAHA! *gets hit with wrench* Dangit Winry!

?: That wasn't Winry.

Then who... Wow.

Alek: Yes, the prince hit a girl, get over it. *Everyone stares in shock* what?

Wow, you have spent way too much time with Winry. But moving on, this chapter will be mostly on Deryn and the Elrics. Ever since the beginning of the series, I viewed Volger as a very evil character, I don't know why, I just do.

Alek: But he isn't bad.

I dunno. He likes to stick his freakishly long nose up at people. It's like he's trying to say "Check out my nose hairs" or something. XD Anyway, let's get on with this.

Deryn: Amorinda does not own us, only the story. She even changed the wording from the book so it would be less copy-right. Only the speech is the same.

Gee, thanks for pointing that out.

* * *

><p>Edward and his younger brother Alphonse were silently following Dylan. He said that he was taking them to the lady boffin, who would probably make them look after her 'eggs' or something. Edward wasn't going to rest until he had proof that Dylan was who he said he was, or if his suspicions were right and Dylan was really a girl. Alphonse knew the look he had on his face and sighed. He was afraid of what trouble his older brother would cause. Ed continued to think of what name Dylan would have if he was a girl, and he wasn't paying attention and ended up bumping into Dylan when he stopped in front of a door with the words "Middy Mess" above it. They Elrics glanced at each other, then to Dylan.<p>

"This is where we eat. I figured you two might be hungry, so I'll get you some food." He said, opening the door and leading Ed and Al into the large room. I'm not bothering to describe it, so picture your middle school lunch room. (Ed: Wow, you really are evil. I thought you were just being dumb./ Me: What was that? *lifts wrench*/ Ed: N-nothing...*runs*) As soon as they entered, the Elrics realize how hungry they were. As soon as Ed smelled the potatoes, he ran so fast Dylan thought he would go careening through the window, yet he somehow kept control of himself and went flying to a table, seating himself at random.

"Alright, you two go sit, I'll get your meals." he said, but before walking off, he added, "Don't either of you move." He then walked off to grab their trays of potatoes, bread and drink. The two started to whisper to each other so no one else could hear them. (Did I mention the Mess was full?)

"Okay Al, I know that Dylan is lying. I can tell. You remember when I asked if he was a girl? He tensed up, ever so slightly, but he tensed." Edward whispered. Al sighed.

"Brother, you should let that go. What if some one hears you? It's obvious that girls can't do anything in the military, so if he really is a she, then we would end up ruining his life. We should let it go." he tried to convince his brother, but he knew that was a futile attempt. When his brother set his mind to something, it was stuck, no turning back.

"Come on Al, I know your curious too." he said, but Alphonse wasn't listening. He was busy looking at something above Ed's head.

"Brother... Turn around..." he whispered.

"What is it, Al...?" Ed's words faded as he turned to see a women who closely resembled Riza Hawkeye, but with darker hair and a more frail looking body.

"Curious about what? I know I'm curious as to who you boys are." the woman said.

"Uh.." Ed tried to speak, but he couldn't manage any words. When Dylan said that the only woman on the ship was going to have his head, he could see why he would be scared. He spotted Dylan walking back, eyes wide open as if he didn't expect to see her standing there. He hurried back as best as possible when holding two plates of food with drinks. When he got there, he put the trays down in front of the Elrics before turning to her and saluting.

"Ma'am, I found these two stumbling around in one of our store rooms. I thought they were starving, and that one needed nutrients, so I came here to feed them, then bring them to you." he said formally, pointing at Al, who was pretty malnourished(brotherhood). She looked down to him.

"That was very kind of you Mr. Sharp, but it would be nicer if you reported to us before spending our precious supplies on stowaways." she replied curtly yet softly. She then turned her head back to Ed and Al. "Please, tell me your names."

"Not to be rude, Miss, but we aren't stowaways. My name is Edward Elric, youngest State Alchemist in history, and this is my younger brother Alphonse." he then started to glare at his plate. "You're here again, you bastard..." he said, giving the milk on his tray his famous death glare, making Al sweat-drop, Dylan roll his eyes and the woman raise an eyebrow.

"Mr. Elric, I hope you realize that you will never grow if you don't have the proper nutrients. Milk is required to do such things. If you don't drink it, you shall remain short." she said.

"Miss, you may want to be careful about his height, he's very sensitive on that subject." he said right as Ed jumped up.

"WHO YOU CALLING A TINY MIDGET THAT COULD BE CRUSHED UNDER YOUR SMALL TOE I'LL POUND YOU ALL!" he started screaming, gaining the attention of anyone who wasn't already staring at the woman and Dylan.

"Mr. Elric, I suggest you cool your head. A man who is angered so easily is doomed on the battlefield." she said, making Ed slump over remembering his battle with Mustang. He had said the same thing. "Now, both of you finish your meals. Mr. Sharp, be sure to take these boys to the bridge to have them explain to me and the captain how they got on the ship."

"Aye, Ma'am. I'll send a message lizard to you before we arrive." Dylan said with a salute before she walked off. After she was gone, the three were swarmed by all the other Midshipmen babbling about how brave and stupid Ed was to blow up at the woman, and jealous of how close Dylan seemed to be with her, almost like they were buddies or something. After the crowd cooled, the Elrics managed to finish their meal and Dylan was able to squeeze them out of the cafeteria, and get them to the ratlines that led down towards the bridge.

"We'll have to climb down these ratlines to make it to the bridge, but I'm sure you'll be fine." Dylan said before climbing down the massive ship. Edward took a look down and sighed, that was a long fall, at least 2,000 feet. Maybe 2,000 yards.

"What's the matter, Brother? Since when were you afraid of heights?" Al asked tauntingly, noticing his older brother's face.

"It's not the height I'm worried about. You know how heavy the steel in my Automail is. If these ropes aren't strong enough, they'll snap, and we both know what will happen then." Ed said in a shaky and irritated voice, and Alphonse gulped. His brother would end up plummeting to the rough waters and die. Even if he survived the impact, the weight of the Automail would only drag him down to the bottom, and if he didn't drown first, then the pressure would definitely do him in.

"I'll test them first, to be safe. Hand me one of your limbs." he told his older brother, who took a quick look around before taking his jacket off for the second time in the past half hour, pulling the arm out of the input and handing it to Al.

"You do know that if the rope snaps and my arm falls, both Dylan and that doctor are gonna give us funny looks?"

"Like they didn't already?" Alphonse then closed the fingers of the Automail around the rope, and with a deep inhale, he let it go, and by some miracle, it held. "Alright, now to see if it will hold that plus the weight of your leg, seeing as without them you weigh near nothing." he joked, pulling off the metal prosthetic and handing it back to his older brother.

"I'm gonna hurt you, Al. Man, I seriously hate this part.." he grumbled while looking around again to see if there was anyone, then grabbed the arm and quickly placed it into the socket by his shoulder, barely muffling the screams of pain that always followed when he attached the arm to his shoulder, connecting the nerves there.

"Dylan's probably thinking how late we are, so we should get moving. I don't want to get arrested by some other wandering airman who thinks we're stowaways. It would be easier if we went to talk to that woman and the captain to sort things out then trying to do what we did in Briggs."

"Yeah." Ed agreed, starting down the ropes. To his and Al's relief, the ropes didn't snap under his weight. Ed was still on edge, just in case, and Al was under him, just in case.

* * *

><p>Deryn was pacing on the deck. Where were those daft boys? She kept looking up, but never saw anything, save for other crewmen going up to the spine and disappearing. She began to curse herself for not making them go down first, but she knew that at this point the only thing she could do was wait for them to get their slow selves down safely. She wondered how much Ed's arm and leg weighed, and she started freaking about whether or not the lines would break. Just then, there was a clang right next to her, causing her to jump around, on guard. When she noticed it was only the Elrics, she grew to be very pissed.<p>

"What took you so long?" she asked in annoyance. Now she was even more late in getting to her duties. She still believed they were Clankers, but it was barking hard to prove it. The two looked like they had no idea about anything surrounding them. She sighed, guessing they weren't going to answer. "Forget it, just follow me." she said, starting down the hallway.

"Uh, what's that thing?" Edward asked uneasily a few minutes later, pointing to one of the ships many message lizards.

"It's a message lizard, one of the fabricated beasties around the ship. They mainly just pass messages around." she said, and both Ed and Al jumped into a fighting stance, making the beastie stop and look at them.

"So they're Chimeras, huh? That's a forbidden Alchemy. I only know of one person who would be stupid enough to do such a thing, and he's dead." Ed nearly growled. The lizard gave him another funny look, then went on to its job. The lizard wasn't the only one to give him that strange 'what the hell' look, as Deryn had turned around, confusion written all over her face.

"What's a Chimera? It's only a fabricated beastie! Oh, that reminds me, I have to send a message to the lady boffin." Deryn then pulled out her command whistle and called for a lizard herself, putting the boys on edge again. She rolled her eyes. "This is Midshipmen Dylan Sharp, reporting a notice to Dr. Barlow and Captain Hobbes. I am on my way over to discuss the issue of the two stowaways. End message." The beastie then scurried off to their right, them soon following behind. "I forgot to mention, the woman before? That was the lady boffin I was talking about, Dr. Barlow. The captain is Captain Hobbes. Be sure you remember."

"Okay, we'll be sure to keep it in mind." Alphonse said, relaxing a bit.

"So, what exactly is a 'Chimera'?" she asked Edward, who looked uneasily at her. She now had more proof of them being Clankers. Exhibit A: Metal limbs. Exhibit B: Dislike of fabricated beasts, calling them Chimeras. Now that was barking different. Alek and his crew always called them 'godless creatures' or something like that, but never Chimeras. Soon another message lizard came by and stopped to look at them, putting the boys on edge again.

"Midshipman Dylan Sharp, thank you for the notice. Please make haste, we have another guest due soon." it said in the lady boffin's voice. She nodded the thing off, and it went back to scurrying around idly. The boys were now even more tense.

"A talking Chimera? That isn't possible! Only _he_ can make those!" Alphonse sputtered in surprise and fear.

"Will you two tell what the hell a Chimera is already? I'm getting deftly tired of asking!" she just about shrieked, bringing attention back to her. She saw the look on their faces, and she realized that she let her voice go high-pitched again. Great, they'll never let it go now.

"Well, a Chimera is a second result of Human Transmutation, and it's not the best. It's taking two things and merging them together into a strange beast." Alphonse explained, sadness lingering in his voice, same as when they spoke of their failure to bring their mum back. The memory had, thankfully, made him forget about her voice. She couldn't say the same for Edward, though. He was giving her the look that said 'Thanks for the extra proof'.

"You said you only knew of one person who would do that? Who is he?" she asked, and they both cringed. Her best guess was that he was definitely some one that should not have ever been given any power.

"His name was Shou Tucker, also known as the Sewing Life Alchemist. I'm glad he's dead." Edward growled menacingly, making Deryn shiver. She was right about this Shou. When somebody is glad that another person is dead it either means said person is a psycho, or dead person was dead-rotten. (Pardon the really bad pun, as he is dead and rotting, but that was another way to say he is evil. Like me! =D)

"We were studying at his house in preparation for the State Alchemist Exam, and at the time he seemed like a nice person. He got his State Certification two years before by successfully transmuting a Chimera that could understand human speech and talk, too. He had a daughter, named Nina, and a dog named Alexander." Alphonse continued.

"Alexander, huh? I have a friend named Aleksander. Funny how similar names can be, yet how different the people are." she said with a smirk, thinking of the daft prince. What she didn't realize, however, that she was talking about herself at the same time.

"Yeah, the dumb mutt kept tackling me and stealing my pocket watch that proved I was a State Alchemist, like that dog earlier did. His wife wasn't there, though, and he said that she left a short time before he got his certification, claiming she was upset with how poor they were. He said that soon after he got his State Certification and became quite wealthy. Turned out, that Chimera had been able to talk, but said only four words: I want to die." Deryn's eyes widened.

"That's barking odd." she said sadly, thinking of the poor beastie.

"Yeah. Supposedly, it stopped eating and died a while later. but a few days after I got my State Certification, Tucker said that he had finally transmuted another Chimera that could speak. We were thrilled, until I realized that the Chimera he transmuted..." Ed's voice trailed off in anger and pain. Al took over explaining, though it was hard for him too. She was such a kind girl and Alexander was such a good dog, he still couldn't believe it happened.

"The Chimera was Nina and Alexander." he said sadly. Deryn stopped mid-stride. Did she hear him right? There's no way he would use his own child and dog as an experiment! Or at least, she thought so.

"That's not all. After I realized this, I asked Tucker when his wife left and when he got his State Certification, both two years before. He had not only used his kid and dog for a Chimera, but he used his own wife. He was a damn psycho, who got what he deserved. Sadly, Nina died too, and I'll explain later about how they both died." Ed finished, with malice still lingering in his voice. These boys have been to hell and back at least twice, as much as Deryn could tell. She had no idea how many more times they ended up going through that kind of pain. Probably a dozen or so.

"How can somebody do something like that... and get away with it?" she asked without thinking, her fists clenched with anger towards a man she never met, her voice sounding like a girl's again. Suddenly she began to think that maybe Darwinists were as bad as Clankers for making things like that without even once caring whether or not the beastie would enjoy it. They always viewed Clankers as miserable people who didn't care about the environment, but maybe they were no better than them when it came to that. She didn't notice the stares the two gave her, and Ed knew now wasn't a good time to poke and prod for the now obvious-to-him answer of whether or not she was a girl. But at that point, she couldn't care less whether or not he knew, so long as he kept his daft mouth shut.

"We don't know, but in a way, he didn't get away with it, as he died the same day as we mentioned. We promise that we'll explain the rest later, but right now we have somewhere to be, right?" Al asked, trying to make her feel better. She smiled slightly, her tightly clenched fists loosening a bit. She looked at them and was glad she kept her nails filed back. If they were even a centimeter longer, she would have cut into her skin, and she wondered how she missed the pain throbbing from her palms. Climbing the ratlines was going to be a pain.

"We're almost to the door. I would appreciate it if you kept your mouths shut about just now. If you promise to keep my secret, then I'll tell you after you clear things up for me. That is, if you survive the lady boffin in there. Please act respectful." she said as she opened the large doors they came to while she spoke. The boys soon saw the woman's bowler hat and the captain at the wheel, and Dr. Barlow soon saw them. Deryn saluted as she approached.

"Ah, Mr. Sharp, I see you have arrived. So, which Elric shall tell us their story?" she said, walking up to the trio, also drawing the captain's attention at her dramatic mini-speech. (Dr. Barlow: I beg your pardon?/ Me:... *facepalm*)

"Brother, could you? I don't remember anything as to how we got here." Alphonse asked, worry clouding his eyes. Edward shrugged.

"That depends on whether or not I can remember. All I know is one second, we're on our way to see Colonel Bastard, next thing I now I have a dozen crates on my head. But I do remember the Gate. It said something about 'another world in danger' or something. What am I, the errand boy of that damn Truth?" he started to go into a rage when Al put a hand on his shoulder.

"I think I saw the Truth, too. But it told me I had to pick a side. So the Truth is trying to tell us something, trying o get us to help something or someone. Let's see, you were told about a world in danger, and I was told we had to pick a side..." he started to think for a minute, then turned to Dr. Barlow. "Miss, is there some sort of war happening in this area?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. Currently, it is Germany leading against the British Empire. The Germans are all Clankers, people who believe machines are the future, and they don't give even a little amount of care to the ecosystem. We here are all Darwinists, those who shun the Clanker beliefs and try to make the environment and our future better. I am amazed that you don't know about it. It's mostly in the European area, yet even America is printing about it all. There's not one area that doesn't know of this war, not one." she said. Ed then looked up.

"So we have to choose which to support: the machine or the Chimera. I can't side with Chimeras, it's a forbidden form of Alchemy, and I've committed enough taboos for one lifetime. And I can't side with machines because of the environment. In my world, they get along in harmony, animals and machines. Without Automail, I wouldn't even be able to stand up or transmute. So that is a hard decision..." Ed audibly muttered, Alphonse nodded in agreement.

"If Winry were here, she would jump towards machine. And if we picked Chimera, it wouldn't only be taking part in forbidden Alchemy, but it would also mean going against Winry. If we were on the opposite team, she'd whack us both upside the head with her wrenches." Alphonse said with a sweat-drop. Everyone in the room raised an eyebrow, save for Deryn, who just stared blankly. A female engineer. That was barking odd, yet she had to admit, a place where females could due such things did sound pretty awesome.

"I'm sorry, did you say this Winry was a female?" Captain Hobbs asked, and the brothers nodded at the same time.

"If not for her, I wouldn't have an arm or leg. She's the best engineer ever!" Ed bragged. "If she were here, she'd say the same thing."

"A female engineer... That is rather funny." Dr. Barlow said, lost in thought. "Do you know any other females like her?"

"Let's see, there's Lieutenant Hawkeye, Lieutenant Ross, General Armstrong, Rose, and several others." Alphonse said recalling all the girls they met and as he did so he realized that there were a lot. "Oh! And there's also May Chang and Lan Fan!"

"Wait, you said Lieutenant Hawkeye and Ross, and General Armstrong? They were in the Service?" Deryn said, just barely hiding her joy. Not only were they able to tinker with engines, but they could serve their country!

"It's called a military, not a service. And yeah, why not? Riza Hawkeye is an amazing sniper. Even with a normal pistol, she never misses her target, and appropriately was nicknamed the Hawk's Eye. Lieutenant Ross worked under Major Armstrong, General Armstrong's little brother. He takes his shirt off WAY too much..." Edward said, and he and Al both sweat-dropped. "And General Armstrong, you don't want to get in a fight with her. You piss her off, she will kill you without hesitation. She tried to kill me, and I'm only fifteen!"

"She tried to kill you? At fifteen? That's heartless. I would at least put you to work first. Now, tell me about those other girls, Rose, May Chang and Lan Fan. Rose sounds like a French name and the other two sound Chinese." Dr. Barlow said.

"We met Rose when we went to Liore to follow a lead on the Philosopher's Stone, which was a fake being used by a priest named Cornello. She was clinging onto his false religion of Letoism, following the sun god Leto, hoping he could bring back her dead boyfriend Cain. But even with a Philosopher's Stone, Human Transmutation is impossible. May Chang came from Xing to the east searching for a Philosopher's Stone for immortality so she could save her clan from perishing. Lan Fan was escorting the prince Ling Yao, also from Xing who was also searching for immortality." Ed answered.

"Xing? There is no such country, nor is there a town named Liore. You two sure you didn't get a concussion?" Captain Hobbs said with a small laugh.

"Of course we didn't have a concussion! I've been hit on the head a thousand times and I never got a concussion!" Ed screamed, startling everyone in the room, causing some of the men to stop in their work and stare. After Captain Hobbs regained his composure, he ordered everyone back to work.

"Regardless, I say we put them to work. After all, they might be useful and they would have to pay off their fortunate stay aboard the Leviathan. You mentioned this 'Alchemy' several times. Pray tell, what exactly is it?" Dr. Barlow asked, and Edward snapped out of his minor rage, deciding it was his turn to say.

"It's the science of knowing the mass of something, deconstructing it, and reconstructing it into something else. There's also Alkahestry, from Xing, which is based mostly in healing. Alchemists who get State Certifications, like me and Major Armstrong, are nicknamed the Dogs of the Military. Each one is given a second name." he said.

"My second name is the Fullmetal Alchemist, Major Armstrong is known as the Strong-Arm Alchemist for his artistic Alchemy, and then there's Colonel Mustang, the Flame Alchemist. There are a dozen others, too. The Iron-Blood Alchemist, the Crimson Alchemist, he was a psycho, and the Crystal Alchemist, Doctor Marcoh." Ed continued listing off all the Alchemists he knew, save for Shou, and Deryn understood why he wouldn't bring that madman up. It was far too depressing.

"I'd like to learn this Alchemy. We might be able to turn the tide of this war by using it and destroying the Clankers destruction machines." Dr. Barlow said. She wasn't much to actually dirty her hands on the battlefield, but if it could help she would put it to good use. "Where are you boys from? Knowing your home town can give us a better edge to learn the material"

"A small rural town in Amestris called Resembool." Alphonse said, once again before Ed could stop him. You'd think by now he'd get the fact that in this world, their home town isn't real.

"Another place that does not exist." she sighed.

"Sure it does! If you look on a map, it's right under Drachma and west of Xing, just past the desert area and the ruins of Xerxes!" he retorted, and Ed shook his head irritably.

"Al, I saw a map while we were in that mans room and studied it. Our countries don't exist here. I didn't know whether or not the towns existed here, but now I'm positive they aren't. My best guess is that Xing is China here..." he said, walking over to another map hanging on the wall and studied it. "Dr. Barlow said that May Chang and Lan Fan sounded Chinese names, so it would make sense. Then there's Drachma to the north, which I'm guessing here is Russia." he said, and the lady boffin caught on.

"And west of China and south of Russia is Germany. Come to think of it, your name Elric sounds German, too. What was your father's name?" she asked.

"I don't like relating that bastard to me, but his name was Van Hoenheim." Edward replied.

"That is definitely German. But your last name is Elric, isn't it? Shouldn't it be Hoenheim as well?" Captain Hobbes asked.

"Elric was our mom's last name, Trisha Elric." he replied sourly.

"Well then there is no need to make a decision between Darwinist and Clanker. If you are German, then you, too, are Clankers." she said.

"That may not be true. When I last came across the Gate, I ended up in a town called London, which is in, I think, England. Are they your allies?" he asked. Dr. Barlow simply nodded, she and Deryn piecing together all this new information. They have a German name, yet when talking about this so called 'gate', he proves he has some English history as well. This 'gate' of his may be a door in between his world and theirs, but perhaps he and his brother were just madmen, like that god-awful Tesla who invented that electrical cannon that could have killed the ship and everyone on it. (Spoiler on Goliath, sorry.)

"Regardless, I shall have you teach us all Alchemy. In return, we shall give you rooms and feed you. Deal?" Dr. Barlow asked. Captain Hobbs sighed, as she was once again controlling what happened on his ship.

"Alright, so long as you don't give me anymore milk." Edward said. With that, Deryn was given new orders: check on Newkirk, escort the Elrics to their new stateroom and after they settle down, go keep watch on her cargo. Then she had to came back for Tazza, who had given up on trying to knock Ed down. (Honestly, why do they do that? T_T)

* * *

><p>Next chapter: Alek introduces Winry to the Captain and Volger, both taking a great distaste to her. Be ready for flying wrenches!<p>

Winry: What are you making me do now?

Throw wrenches at people who don't think it 'proper' for a girl to wear a jumpsuit and use wrenches to make stuff and get covered in oil.

Winry:... I need more giant ones.

Ed will transmute some, right Edward?

Ed: Only if Winry promises not to hit me on the head anymore!

Winry: Only if you promise to stop breaking my Automail!

Ed: YOU KNOW I CAN'T DO THAT!

Winry: *hits Ed with wrench, rendering him unconscious* Whoops. Hey Alphonse...

Alphonse: Eep! Please review! *runs away with Winry following, holding giant wrench*


	4. Chapter 4

This sucks, my computer restarted itself overnight and I forgot to save my work so now I need to rewrite it all. Dumb piece of junk...

Winry: If you let me take it apart, maybe I could fix it. =3

Sorry Winry, this was custom-done by my older bro. You can't touch- Wait a minute... YOU TOUCHED IT LAST NIGHT, DIDN'T YOU!

Winry: Wow, she catches on faster than I thought. I DIDN'T BREAK ANYTHING, I PROMISE!

TELL THAT TO MY FIST!

Edward: Both are equally scary, equally powerful, and get set off in similar ways. Hey Al, who should we root for? *gets whacked by wrench that flew out of nowhere, then hit by a baseball bat*

Alphonse: No one, brother, because we should leave instead.

Edward: *weakly* Yeah, that might be smarter...

(Ten minutes later)

Okay, now that that's all been sorted out, let's see if I can re-do this chapter! Winry, if this chapter isn't as good as it was before, I'm going to kill you.

Winry: Ed, Al, wait up! *runs away*

Deryn: Now that was barking funny. Disclaimer: Amorinda does not own the Leviathan trilogy or Fullmetal Alchemist. Hey, where did the TV remote go?

By the TV, duh. Yes, I managed to get Deryn hooked on TV. How? I have no idea.

* * *

><p>Winry and Alek were walking rather silently down the corridors leading towards the ratlines. She noticed he looked pretty serious considering his age. She had been going on and on about Automail for about five minutes, but she stopped when she realized that he wasn't really paying attention to her. She wanted to get his attention with her wrench, but she guessed that was a really bad idea. Instead, she decided to just keep behind him, and every now and then he would glance back to make sure she was still there. She thought about Briggs, when she was being taken there by Kimblee. She thought he was a nice man before, during the car ride over, but it turned out he was anything but kind. He was even willing to blow her up along with Scar just because he had a chance to kill him. If it weren't for Edward, she would probably have died there.<p>

She realized that Alek had stopped, and nearly too late, as she had almost bumped into him, and another commotion would not be very good for them, more specifically, not very good for her her. She noticed that he was looking at something, and she saw what it was after following his eyes. An officer was coming straight towards them, and Alek had already scolded her for hitting the last three with wrenches, rendering them all unconscious. She had to hide from any others, and she didn't like it very much. She managed to find a small space for her to crouch in, and she was barely able to fit. Now she just had to hope that Alek could steer the officer a different direction or something. Otherwise, well, just one simple word describes it, and I have used it way too many times already in just the beginning, so you guys take a guess. (Alek: *sweat-drops* This won't end very well.../ No, you think?/ Alek: Your sarcasm is not needed nor is it wanted right now./ So sorry, Your Serene Highness. Shall I get the problem solver? Oh wait, that's me. Now stop your whining.)

The officer seemed to just ignore Alek as he continued to walk to their left, seemingly in a hurry. After he had gone out of sight and Alek checked to see if the coast was clear, she got up and stretched her sore muscles. She was amazed that she had managed to stay out of sight in that poor hiding space, but at least the officer wasn't on the floor, unconscious with a bloody head. Alek looked relieved, too, but only because he didn't want to be in any more trouble than he already was. Winry suddenly noticed that he was clutching his rib-cage, and he seemed to be in a great amount of pain.

"Hey, Alek? What's wrong? Did something happen to your rib? Are you alright?" she asked, and he instantly let go of his side. She was worrying over this stranger like she did over Ed and Al, and she couldn't really believe that she was.

"It's nothing, just a small bruise. I'm fine." he said stubbornly, and she laughed.

"You sound like my friend Edward. He's always so stubborn, and gets in so much trouble a head injury is like a plain old paper-cut to him. I never understand him or his brother Alphonse, because they always keep secrets from me. We've known each other since birth, and they still don't want to let me know what's going on in those thick little skulls of theirs. But even so, I keep servicing his Automail instead of telling him to try and find someone else who makes as good Automail as me. But then if I did, I would most likely go bankrupt. He is my major source of income, as he keeps breaking my hard work." she laughed nervously after she realized that she was once again rambling. Alek began to look at her as if he wanted to hear more.

"This Edward sounds important, to have enough money to constantly fix himself like that. And how can somebody get into that much trouble and act like it's no big deal?" he asked, officially interested, and she smiled warmly.

"He's a very important person, even though he's called a Dog of the Military because of his position as a State Alchemist. He was twelve years old when he got his certification, and he became the youngest State Alchemist in history! They are given a large amount of research funds, and I get at least twenty-five percent of it for the servicing of his arm and leg. And whenever there's a war, he gets dragged into it as a human weapon, and makes me have to travel over to him, so he ends up paying me more in travel fees. But even with that, he never gets his major injuries from his occupation. It's from being so damn reckless, and he ends up getting into a large amount of unnecessary fights, and he even has an Ishvalan trying to kill him when Edward didn't do anything to him. I think he was called Scar or something because of the large x-shaped scar on his forehead." she said, and he looked even more intrigued.

"That's the second time you mentioned an 'Ishvalan'. What is that?" he asked, remembering when she had called him an Ishvalan, but decided he wasn't because, of all things, he didn't have red eyes. What kind of person had red eyes, anyway?

"Ishval was a small desert village just south of my hometown, Resembool. Amestresians, they called us, because most of us had blue eyes, and they had red eyes. Because of the desert area their village was in, crops were hard to grow, yet they were very strong people who had a very strict religious belief to their god, Ishvala. We tried to bring Alchemy into their society, but they saw it as taking sinful by changing something from its natural form and shifting it to our own will. So, many of them would try to stand up against the military in hopes of disassociating their small village from the control of Central Command, but the uprisings were always quelled. Then, one day a soldier accidentally shot an Ishvalan child, and then the Ishvalans grew even more upset, and more people were willing to attack the soldiers. After a while, the Fuhrer King Bradley signed a one-page document, which began the seven year long Ishvalan War of Extermination. Women, children, none were to be spared. My parents were doctors, so they were sent to go take care of injured soldiers, but they helped the Ishvalans which were hurt on the battlefield as well. Scar was one of their patients, and he was angry at us for killing his family, and his older brother died saving his life, and so he killed them." she said, tears streaming down her cheeks, fists clenching by her side. "Scar was out to get vengeance on all State Alchemists, whether or not they took part in the war. I found out from Edward, though on accident, that Scar was the one who killed Mom and Dad. So naturally, I tried to kill him. But I couldn't. Edward said that my hands were those that healed, and couldn't kill. My parents, they healed even the enemy, right up to the end. So I promised Edward that the next time I cried, they would be tears of joy." she finished, and she wiped her eyes. "I guess I failed there, huh?" she laughed gently, and continued trying to clear up her eyes.

"Wow, I can't believe that. I don't blame that man, but he shouldn't target those who had nothing to do with it." Alek said, utterly horrified.

"He also killed anyone who stood in his way, merciless like we were to his people. If my mom and dad could have seen me pointing that gun towards him, then they would have been very disappointed in me." she said with another laugh. She looked up, and saw that Alek was struggling to hold back tears, too. It was a hard thing to do, considering everything she had said and not feel sad. Anyone who wouldn't is totally heartless. (In all honesty, I cried in writing this part. No joke, I did./ Deryn: Wimp./ Oh please, you struggle every time you even think of your dad! Oops, wrong button to push. _Gomen'nasai_! *runs off after Deryn*)

After around twenty minutes or so of walking in silence, they had finally managed to find the ratlines, and Winry looked down to the ocean, in all of it's glistening beauty.

"Wow, I wonder how far down that is?" she though aloud, and she noticed that Alek had tensed. "Oh please, you can't be afraid of heights, can you?"

"I'm not afraid of heights, I just don't like the thought of falling to my death. I have something I have to do, so I can't die." he said solemnly, surprising her.

"Alright, just be sure to hold on tight to the ropes." she laughed, knowing that was common knowledge that he already knew. Then she did something that could make even the strongest or bravest man panic: she jumped right off the railing, and then used one of her wrenches to catch on a rope, and hung there, seemingly dazed.

* * *

><p>Alek had totally panicked. The Winry girl had just jumped right off the rail! He quickly grabbed the lines and began to furiously climb down towards her, and when he finally caught up to her, he found out that she was laughing.<p>

"You have to try that, it's such rush!" she said, trying to focus on the ropes, but the adrenaline wouldn't settle down. He sighed and helped her to climb the rest of the way to the gondola.

"That was really stupid, you know." he said when they had finally made it to solid ground, both breathless.

"Oh, get over it. Besides, I'm fine aren't I?" she said, trying to walk a bit unsteady. About ten minutes later, she had regained her balance and began to walk normally again. If this Edward she spoke about was reckless, then by her standards, he figured that she was downright mad. (Winry: Author, I'm gonna kill you./ I wanna see you try. If you do, I'll just, you know, make you kiss Alek. *evil grin*/ Alek: Hey, don't I get a say in that!/ Um, no. Muahaha./ Winry: Fine, you win, I'll behave./ Good girl ^^)

"Alright, but we should get going. I don't know how far the captain's patience stretches, and I don't wish to find out." he said, and she agreed. The two then continued on towards the very front of the gondola.

After about another twenty minutes of walking, Alek spotted Count Volger standing by the gondola's main staircase. While Winry was distracting herself with their surroundings, he ran up to him. He found it very awkward seeing Volger's riding clothes covered in oil, but he knew if Winry saw that, she would get overly excited. The wildcount's hair was also tangled with propeller wash, which looked pretty good on him in my eyes. (XD/ Volger: You miserable little peasant./ Who's the miserable one, me, the clean person, or you, the man who is so dirty it's hard to believe he's really a count./ Winry: MOVING ON! *pulls out wrench to shut us both up*) Actually, Alek hadn't really seen Volger at all since the battle, as they had both been working in the engine pods every moment they were awake since Alek was able to move around.

"Ah, Your Highness," the wildcount said, bowing half-heartedly. (See what I mean!) "I was wondering if you'd been summoned too."

"I go where the lizards tell me."

Volger didn't smile at the joke, but instead turned and started down the stairs, Alek calling for Winry. Volger turned back around to see Alek bringing her over, and the disgust on his face grew even more, and he switched to speaking in German.

"Your Highness, who is this? This can't be that Dylan boy you sent to me before, is it?" he asked, and Alek shook his head.

"No, I just met, uh, him in a storeroom. I had to grab something for the engines, and so did he. But he looked like a new guy, so I decided to take him to the captain." Alek said uneasily, making up the fact that Winry was a boy. Volger raised an eyebrow.

"What is his name?" Volger asked, and Alek gulped. He hadn't thought of that. Luckily, Volger got distracted by a lizard scurrying past his foot. "Beastly creatures." he grumbled, then continued walking towards the bridge. "The captain must have important news, to let us see the bridge at last."

"Perhaps he wants to thank us." Alek said, thankful that the subject had been changed from Winry's name.

"I suspect it's something less agreeable," he replied. "Something he didn't want us to know until after we got his engines working again."

Alek's face turned into a frown. The wildcount was once again making sense, even though it was in a rather suspicious way. Living on the Leviathan among these godless creatures certainly hadn't improved his disposition any.

"You don't trust the Darwinists much, do you?" he asked.

"Nor should you." Volger came to a halt, and Winry nearly bumped into Alek yet again.

"What's going on, Alek?" she whispered, but he ignored her. He would be sure to answer all her questions later. Volger was scanning the corridors same as Alek did when trying to get down there so Winry wouldn't take out anymore of her seemingly endless wrenches. A pair of crewmen were walking past, and he waited for them to pass, and Alek had to keep Winry from taking out even more wrenches. (Honestly, where do they keep coming from? O_O) He then pulled Alek down the stairway, leaving Winry standing there, trying to keep up. A moment later, Winry had just decided to wait for them, because they had disappeared into a dark corridor on the lowest deck on the gondola, lit only by the ship's glowworms.

"The ship's storerooms are almost empty," Volger said in a near whisper. "They don't even guard them anymore."

Alek smiled tauntingly. "You've been sneaking about, haven't you?"

"When I'm not adjusting gears like a common mechanik. But we must speak quickly. They've caught me here once already."

"So, what did you think of my message?" Alek asked, back to being serious. "Those ironclads are headed for Constantinople, aren't they?"

"You told them who you were," Volger said, though it came out sounding more like a growl.

Alek froze, waiting for his brain to process what was just said. After a moment, he blinked, then turned away, his still aching eyes stinging once more, but instead of with sadness, they burned with a mixture of shame and frustration. It felt exactly like when he was just a little boy, back during his fencing lessons with Volger after he landed hits on Alek with his saber.

He cleared his throat, reminding himself that Volger wasn't his tutor anymore. "Dr. Barlow told you, didn't she? To show that she has something over us."

"Not a bad guess. But it was simpler then that- Dylan let it slip."

"Dylan?" Alek asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"He didn't realize you kept secrets from me."

"I don't keep any...," Alek began to argue, but realized there was no point.

"Have you gone mad?" he whispered harshly. "You're the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. Why would you tell our enemies that?"

"Dylan and Dr. Barlow aren't enemies," Alek said in a firm voice, looking the count dead in the eye. "And they don't know I'm the legal heir to the throne. Nobody knows about the pope's letter but you and me." (And us readers XD/ Alek: Shut up, it's in the story okay?)

"Well, thank heaven for that."

"And I didn't tell them, not really. Dr. Barlow guessed who my parents were, quite on her own." Alek looked away once more. "But I'm sorry. I should have told you they knew."

"No. You should have never admitted anything, whatever they'd guessed! That boy Dylan is completely guileless- incapable of keeping a secret. You may think he's your friend, but he's just a peasant. And you've put your future in his hands!"

Alek shook his head again. Sure, Dylan was a commoner, but he definitely was his friend. He had already risked his life keeping Alek's true identity a secret.

"Think for a moment, Volger. Dylan let it slip to you, not to one of the ship's officers. We can trust him."

The tall man stepped closer, towering over Alek in the dim light, his voice barely above a whisper. "I hope you're right, Alek. Otherwise the captain is about to tell us that his new engines will be taking us back to Britain, where they'll have a cage waiting for you. Do you think being the Darwanists' pet monarch will be agreeable?"

For a moment, Alek didn't answer, as he was replaying all of Dylan's earnest promises in his head. He then turned to walk back up the stairs.

"He hasn't betrayed us. You'll see."

* * *

><p>Winry pulled out two wrenches from her pockets. When Alek and that tall guy came back, they were both gonna get a wrench to the head. She was just about to go down and find them when she saw Alek coming up the stairs followed by the tall man.<p>

"Hi, sorry we took so long." Alek apologized, but it didn't stop her from hitting him.

"How dare you!" the tall man said before he, too, was hit with a wrench.

"You two took way too long! I was running out of things to think about! And that's saying something!" she said, and the tall man looked up at her.

"You're a girl? Alek said you were a new engineer here! Is that why you avoided telling me her name?" he looked to Alek, who was still rubbing the new bump on his head. The wrench didn't help his rib injury any, but he still didn't want to tell her what happened. Not yet at least.

"Well, I figured if I told you the truth, you wouldn't like the thought of a women working with gears and wearing a jumpsuit covered in oil, so..." Alek's voice trailed off as he saw Winry's face, hand tightly wrapped around her wrenches.

"What's this about not liking a female engineer? I'm not the only one you know! There's at least a dozen others, like my grandma Pinako! How can you think a girl working with oil isn't proper!" she said, throwing a wrench at the man, who just barely managed to dodge it, but wasn't as lucky when she threw the other one at him.

"Well, your aim is nothing to scoff at, that's for sure." Alek said with a sweat-drop. He was reminded of how scary she can get, and he had to change the subject fast. "Anyway, Winry, this is Count Volger, and old tutor of mine." he said, and she looked to him.

"He certainly looks volger." she said with a snicker, and the wildcount glared at her, recovering from the wrench to the face.

"That isn't very funny. Now, what is your name?" he asked, standing up so he towered over her. But she wasn't so easily intimidated.

"It's Rockbell. Winry Rockbell." she said, not even bothering to extend her hand. Her wrenches already did the talking for her: 'Get on my bad side, and I will kill you. Or at least severely injure you'.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Volger grumbled, heading towards the bridge once more, she and Alek following close behind.

"Why did you hit him with a wrench so many time?" he whispered to her, and she just kept looking forward, seemingly glaring at the man.

"Because he thinks I can't be an engineer. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't do what a man does. Gender has absolutely nothing to do with it. A girl should be allowed to do whatever the hell she wants to do." she whispered, but Volger caught every word.

Eventually they made it to the bridge, and it turned out to be much larger than Alek imagined, and Winry was awestruck, as well.

It took up the whole width of the large gondola, curving along the airship's prow in a gentle half circle, afternoon sunlight streaming through the windows that nearly stretched up to the ceiling. Alek and Winry each stepped up to a window almost at the same time, both noticing that the glass leaned outward just enough to look straight down at the glittering ocean passing beneath. Winry glanced over at Alek just in time to see him shudder, and she giggled. He looked over to her, then back to the window. Reflected in them were at least a dozen message lizard tubes, some of which went up to the ceiling and coiled around each other while the rest sprouted up from the floor, just like metal flowers.

Lining the walls were many levers and control panels, and hanging in the corner were cages with carrier birds fluttering about inside of them. The two closed their eyes, first Winry then Alek, letting the buzz and chatter of men overcome them, until Volger gently pulled on Alek's arm, bringing the two out of their wonderment. "We're here to parley, not to gawk."

Alek set a serious expression on his face, which made Winry wonder how a thirteen or fourteen year old boy could be so formal like that. The two followed close behind Volger, but they still listened and watched everything around them. Regardless of what the captain was going to say to them, Alek didn't want to forget this place, he wanted to remember the details of every square inch.

The master wheel at the front was similar to that of an old sailing ship's, carved in the sinuous style that the Darwinists' used ever so much. The captain, Captain Hobbes, turned away from it to greet them with a warm smile on face.

"Ah, gentlemen. Thank you for coming."

Alek did exactly as Volger did and bowed to the captain shallowly, the kind of bow meant for minor nobleman of an unknown importance. When Winry noticed what they were doing, she bowed, too. The captain still didn't notice her, but for now that's a good thing.

"To what do we owe the pleasure?" Volger asked with a very hidden sarcasm that Winry was able to detect, thanks to all the time she spent with Ed. She didn't say anything about it, not in front of someone who could help her figure out what was going on.

"We're under way again," Captain Hobbes said happily. "I wanted to thank you personally for that."

"We're glad to help," Alek said, hoping that just this once, Volger's suspicions were wrong.

"But I also have bad news," the captain went on. "I've just received word that Britain and Austria-Hungary are officially at war." He then cleared his throat. "Most regrettable."

Winry saw Alek take a deep slow breath, as if something were wrong. And there was, in his mind. He was wondering how long the captain had known his secret. Did he wait until after the engines were working again to let him know. Then Alek noticed that he and Volger, and Winry too, were all covered in oil, dressed up more like common traders as Captain Hobbes wore a crisp blue uniform, and he suddenly felt a great hatred towards him. Winry honestly didn't care, as she loved the smell of fresh motor grease and wore the oil like a trophy.

"This changes nothing," Volger said calmly. "We're not soldiers, after all."

"Really?" the captain asked, frowning. "But judging by their uniforms, your men are members of the Hapsburg Guard, are they not?"

"Not since we left Austria," Alek said. "As I told you, we had to flee for political reasons." Winry looked at him. What had made him leave? She made a mental note to ask him later on. She looked back towards the captain, who shrugged.

"Deserters are still soldiers." he said nonchalantly.

Alek looked rather upset. "My men are hardly-" he began, but Volger cut him off.

"Are you saying we're prisoners of war? If so, then we shall collect our men from the engine pods and retire to the brig."

"Don't be so hasty, gentlemen." the captain said with a light chuckle as he raised his hands. "I merely wanted to give you the bad news, and to beg your indulgence. This puts me in an awkward situation, you must understand."

"We find it...awkward too." Alek said, and Winry rolled her eyes. She had to stifle a laugh so as not to attract attention to herself.

"Of course," Captain Hobbes said, ignoring the tone of Alek's voice. "I would prefer to reach some arrangement. But try to understand my position. You've never told me exactly who you are. Now that our countries are at war, that makes your status rather complicated."

The man then waited, as if expecting them to say something, and Winry looked to Alek, who then looked to Volger. (gotta love it when that happens XD)

"I suppose it does," he said. "But we still prefer not to identify ourselves."

The captain sighed. "Then I shall have to turn to the Admiralty for orders."

"Do let us know what they say." Volger said simply.

Captain Hobbes nodded his head. He then looked towards Winry, he stepped back a bit. "Now, who might this be? I've never seen you around my ship before." Before Alek could answer, she held her hand out to tell him that she would handle this.

"My name is Winry Rockbell. I'm not sure how I got here, but all I remember is a white room with a large door that opened up and pulled me in with these black arm-like things. Next thing I know, I'm in one of the ship's rooms and Alek was standing outside." she said, and he raised an eyebrow.

"You're a women? Then why are you wearing an engineer's jumpsuit?" the captain said before a wrench was thrown in his face.

"Not you, too! For crying out loud, why is everyone here against female engineers? I'm the best Automail engineer in Amestris, no one ever said otherwise!" she said, drawing everyone else's attention once more, but all were too scared to do a thing. This girl had major fury bottled up. A minute later, Captain Hobbes was back on his feet, ordering everyone back to work for the second time in the past hour.

"Wait, did you say your name was Winry? And you are an Automail engineer?" he said, and her expression went from one of anger to one of excitement in a split second, making even Volger jump.

"Finally! Someone who knows me and Automail!" she squealed, and he sighed.

"I'm afraid I know as much about Automail as a I do about these people: nothing. I heard of you from these two boys who came in earlier."

"Were their names Edward and Alphonse Elric by any chance?" she asked, and the captain nodded. "Where are they! I'm gonna beat them for bringing me here! Those idiots!" she screamed.

"I can't have you beat them up just yet, they can be useful for me, at least until the next stop." he said, and she stopped waving another wrench that appeared out of thin air. "But I can have an officer escort you to them." he said. She agreed. The captain then turned back to the wheel. "Good day, gentlemen."

Volger bowed again, and Alek stiffly turned to walk away. He turned back to see Winry talking to the captain, but left it be. Turns out, she was asking about working on the engines to pay for her stay on the ship, something she said Edward and Alphonse would call 'equivalent exchange'. The captain agreed, then had a nearby guard take her to the stateroom nearby the Elrics. In fact, she had to share it with one of the midshipman on the ship. She didn't mind, so long as he gave her her privacy. And so, everyone went their separate ways, but they will soon all meet very soon, as this story has only just begun.

* * *

><p>I had to do that ending, I always wanted to. But yes, I am sure you can guess which middy she has to share with, and I had fun with all the wrenches.<p>

Winry: Me too!

Hobbes, Volger and certain officers: WE DIDN'T!

Whiners. Anyway, read and review please! Oh yeah, and "gomen'nasai" means I'm sorry in Japanese. Praise for Japan!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five is here! Hope everyone had an awesome winter holiday! I know I did! But I think it's because I celebrate two holidays, Hanukkah (I think that's how it's spelled, I'm no good at that) and Christmas. My mom keeps calling me a JIP, Jewish Irish Princess. I really wish she'd stop calling me that. -_-

Alphonse: I think it's cute! *Gets punched*

I AM NOT CUTE CALL ME CUTE AGAIN AND I WILL KILL YOU! OR AT LEAST SERIOUSLY INJURE YOU!

Edward: Okay! Moving on! Just out of curiosity, who's gonna get hit with a wrench this time?

Well, I was thinking to do a Portal 2 thing with Cave Johnson's Combustible Lemons, but I guess that works, too. Less copyright issues, this isn't a Portal-related crossover. *sweat-drops*

Alek: Well, if you _were_ able to do the lemon thing, who would you pick to be the target?

Hmm... Probably either Count Volger or Dr. Barlow. Maybe even both!

Volger: Excuse me?

Dr. Barlow: *at same time* I beg your pardon!

-_- *facepalm* This is getting to be seriously annoying, I swear I'm amazed I haven't lost my sanity working with those two.. Hey wait a minute, where'd Deryn go?

Alek: She said that she was going to go get ready for the next chapter and that if anyone bothered her she'd hit them with a wrench, and I think we all don't want that. Thing is, that was near half an hour ago, and she doesn't normally take that long...

Are you sure she isn't still sulking after what I said on accident in the last chapter? I can't believe I said that...

Deryn: *off screen* I'M STILL BARKING MAD AT YOU FOR THAT! IF YOU THINK I'M JUST GONNA FORGIVE YOU, THEN THINK AGAIN!

I SAID I WAS SORRY A DOZEN TIMES! WILL YOU PLEASE STOP CRYING LIKE THAT! HONESTLY, WE HAVE A CHAPTER TO GET TO! Alek, go help her. I'm not asking, just go.

Alek: Why do I have to help her?

Because you're her boyfriend and I'm the writer who tells you what to do so go help her we have a story to get to.

Alek: I AM NOT HER BOYFRIEND, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU! Grr... FINE! I'll go help her... *Walks over to Deryn, still grumbling about the 'boyfriend' thing*

Alphonse: Oh geez, here we go again... Amorinda-Chan does not own Leviathan or Fullmetal Alchemist. HEY, ALEK! WAIT UP! *Runs to catch up with Alek to help Deryn feel better*

Winry: Do we HAVE to keep doing this disclaimer thing? I mean, it's chapter five! I think they get it by now.

Dr. Barlow: Yes, but there are still copyright issues. Now let's get this chapter started, I want to learn this Alchemy thing already.

Well, aren't you eager? Sorry, but I was thinking about delaying that for a few chapters, at least till the next chapter. It might be a squick more interesting that way. I might, I'm not all that sure yet.

* * *

><p>Winry was busy settling down in her new room when her new bunk-mate came in. It was a young boy, probably around Alphonse's age, grumbling about, from what Winry could tell, two 'daft' stowaways with 'barking' wild imaginations, right before he noticed Winry, who had been sitting on the only bed in the room. There was also a small sofa in the corner that folded out into a second bed, but Winry was NOT going to sleep on that old thing meant for extra soldiers or 'guests', as was Winry's case.<p>

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" he managed to choke out in a rather feminine-like squeak. It reminded her of when Alphonse was only a little boy around eight or so years old, he sounded very much like a girl **(A/N: That is in the Japanese version of the series, they did use a female actress to make it sound better. I actually preferred that version.)**, and she actually had to stifle a small giggle, thinking this boy may be around fourteen, but he must be pretty late in hitting puberty. (Deryn: HEY!/ Shut up Deryn, this is in Winry's PoV) She reached into one of pockets, grasping something, and I'm pretty sure we all know what it is.

"My name is Winry Rockbell, Automail specialist. Apparently, I'm your new bunk-mate. But if you get any funny ideas..." she said, then pulled her hand out of her pocket, flashing yet another wrench. The boy seemed to get the idea and took a step backwards.

"Wait a minute, YOUR Winry Rockbell? You really are a female engineer? I thought they were just two morons who lost their barking minds.." he said, seeming rather interested and confused at the same time. She nodded excitedly, then suddenly realized that he knew her from somewhere, but she didn't know him.

"How do you know about me?" she asked, suddenly very skeptical. "You aren't Envy, are you?"

"Envy? Like one of the seven sins? Why would I be envious of somebody I hardly know?" he said, but she could hear his voice waver slightly, and she heard him mutter a curse under his breath

"No, one of the Homonculi."

"Like... Sloth?" he asked, lost in thought, as if trying to remember something. "I heard of Sloth from those two daft boys I mentioned before, but I don't think I've ever heard of Envy." he finished, looking at her in a confused sort of way.

"Two daft boys? You don't mean Ed and Al, by any chance, do you?" she asked, grasping the wrench in her hand even tighter.

"I think that was their names, yes. Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric, I believe. I don't understand how Mr. Elric can be the older brother even though he's so shor-" But before the boy could finish, the door had slammed open and there was a blur of red and yellow, and next thing anyone knew, Winry's new bunk-mate was lying on the floor, unconscious, with Ed shouting things like "who you calling a super-ultra-hyper-pipsqueak I'm still growing you jerk!" while Alphonse rushed in saying "Dylan never said that, Brother!". Eventually, after the blonde haired boy had calmed himself down, and the two had noticed Winry, who then took yet ANOTHER wrench out and threw one at each of them.

"Winry, that was really mean! Brother didn't break your Automail or get in trouble this time!" Alphonse whined, rubbing his head. The boy, who had woken up, was curious as how he was still conscious after a wrench to the head.

"Then how do you explain us being here, huh! One minute I'm going to say hi to Riza and Black Hayate, and now I'm sharing a room with a boy on this giant freaking... THING! Where are we!" she asked, noticing the boy trying to get up, but failing miserably, out of the corner of her eye. She ran over to help him, but not before throwing another two wrenches at the boys.

"DAMN IT WINRY STOP DOING THAT!" Ed screamed, as the first wrench hit him on the head like Al, while the second one just narrowly missed his crotch and hit him in the knee. Not the left metal limb, the right human one.

"Stupid daft boys..." the boy grumbled as he got up, and Winry found it odd that he would say that considering he IS a boy. She passed it as someone who believed he was better than any other, and she had to restrain herself from grabbing ANOTHER wrench and knocking him out with it. She knew that she would never figure anything out with her two childhood friends, so she needed him awake, at least for the time being.

"Well, you seem to know him well, mind introducing him?" she said, pointing to the still dazed light blonde haired boy who was trying to stay standing without Winry's help, but found he needed it for a while if he didn't want to collapse.

"Oh, that's Dylan. We met him after we got here. He showed us around the ship and got us a room here, and we're going to be teaching some of the staff Alchemy. We were coming to see him and ask if he wanted to learn too, just in case he needed it for emergencies." Alphonse said, and Ed grumbled something inaudible to Winry or Dylan, but Al heard it and elbowed him in the ribs, something Winry knew would be very painful to Alek. Dylan nodded when they said his name.

"My name is Midshipmen Dylan Sharp, but for now just call me Dylan. We'll sort out the sleeping arrangements later." he grumbled, head still throbbing.

"Are you going to teach Alek, too?" she asked, and everyone looked at her.

"You know that Clanker?" Dylan asked head throb suddenly gone with the shock that this girl knew him.

"Yeah, he took me to the captain earlier. He kept clutching his rib for some reason, but when I asked, he refused to tell me a thing. He's like you, Ed. Stupidly stubborn," she said with a small laugh. "Hey, do you know what happened to him? He seemed like he was in a lot of pain." she asked, looking towards Dylan, who was standing on his own now, thought still a bit wobbly, and was also at a total loss for words. Eventually, Ed got impatient and nudged him lightly, then whispered something in his ear, causing him to flinch and tense at the same time.

"Uh, let's see, how should I put it.." he mumbled, trying to find a place to start. "About a few hours ago, the ship came across two German Ironclads, the _Breslau_ and the _Goeben_. They were armed with a Tesla Cannon, a machine that harness's lightening as a fatal weapon, especially to a hydrogen breather like the _Leviathan_." Winry gave him a funny look, but he ignored her and continued the story. "Alek said that he and his Master of Mechaniks, Otto Klopp, were in one of the engine pods, and Klopp knew what the cannon was and knew we had to turn around fast, or we would be in serious danger. The beastie sensed it, too, and helped him. Mr. Hirst, our chief engineer, said that they had to wait for orders. But Klopp knew they didn't have the time to wait and switched to full reverse, which saved the ship, though none of the officers want to admit it." he finished.

"But what happened to Alek's rib?" Winry asked, getting irritated at the fact that he had side-tracked it. She was about to pull out another wrench when he began to speak again.

"Oh, right. You see, Mr. Hirst wasn't very happy that they had done as they wanted to do without orders, so he called it mutiny and pointed a condensed-air pistol at Klopp." Dylan said, seeing Winry pull her hand out of her pocket, and thankfully she wasn't holding anything this time. She looked pretty upset.

"Sound familiar?" Ed asked, and Al nodded.

"Alek then grabbed Mr. Hirst's arm and tried to wrestle the gun out of his hand, causing Hirst to pull the trigger. Alek said that the bullet had ricocheted around the pod and eventually hit him in the rib. Earlier, he had been giving me fencing lessons, so he was wearing fencing armor, which looked barking ridiculous on him. But even so, it saved his daft life. He wound up with a bruised rib, and that was it. However, he now faces two hanging offences for mutiny and assaulting an officer. But instead, Hirst and Klopp no longer share the same engine pod, and Hirst's gun was taken away." Dylan said, relief hinting in his voice. Winry thought that he was just good friends with Alek, but that kind of relief didn't seem like friends. She let the thought go, as Alek was probably just extremely valuable to these people, and Dylan didn't want him dying just yet or something.

"Why wouldn't he tell me?" she asked, still upset and confused. She knew that they had only known each other for maybe an hour, but still, she was a trustworthy person! Maybe it was the wrenches, that made everyone fear her. It made her feel powerful, though. Dylan shrugged.

"That daft pr- I mean, Clanker has a dozen secrets. I've known him for months and he still doesn't fully trust me, and I don't blame him. We're enemies at war, simple as that." he said, but he didn't seem to like that fact.

"Wow, seems tough. So, Winry, you wanna join us?" Alphonse asked, and Edward smiled. Winry sat back down on the bed and leaned over her knees for a minute, thinking. She wanted to see Alek again and ask why he didn't want to tell her anything, but it made sense to her, considering that Ed and Al have been keeping secrets from her since grade school.

"Sure, why not. It seems like it would be a smart move, considering how Ed treats my Automail when doing Alchemy, so I think I might join. What about you, Dylan?" she asked, looking over to the currently lost in thought boy.

"Hm? Oh, sure, just let me clean up. I'm covered in dirt, not suitable for meeting a boffin. Especially not the lady boffin." he said, then walked towards the bathroom, Winry following the boys out.

"Hey, Ed? Where are you going to be teaching them?" she asked.

"A room called the 'Middies Mess' I think. Dylan took us there to eat earlier. Why?" Ed replied.

"He doesn't know, so I'll stay behind to tell him." she said with a smile. Alphonse nodded in understanding.

"We can't leave him without letting him know where it is. We'll meet you guys there, then." he said, and waved as he and Ed left.

* * *

><p>"Barking stowaways..." Deryn muttered as she began to change into her other uniform. She didn't know where they were headed, and guessed they were probably long gone by this point. She decided just to send a message lizard to the lady boffin asking where they were, but then she would have to come up with an excuse for being there. She shrugged, and decided to think about it later. She had just taken her carefully tailored shirt off to replace it, and was in a short-sleeved t-shirt, but then everything went from bad to worse. Bad seeing as she had to share a room with a girl who thought she was a boy, worse that said girl had just walked in before she could put a new shirt on.<p>

"Hey Dylan, I decided with Ed and Al that I would stay behind to... tell..." her voice faded as she realized that Dylan was in truth a female hiding behind male clothes.

"Uh, I thought you were gone!" Deryn said, blushing like mad, trying to throw on her other shirt and make it seem like Winry was simply imagining things. But the damage was already done, and Winry now knew. Deryn braced herself, but she didn't react like most anyone else would.

"Why are you upset? Let me guess, your mom wanted a boy and named you Dylan anyway, but why are you acting like that?" she asked, and Deryn remembered that the two Elrics had said that females were allowed in the military, so Winry believed that it was the same concept here.

"Women aren't allowed in the Service here, and I know more about Aeronautics and Aerology than any other Middy on this barking ship. Most are stronger than me, yes, but I'm smarter and more accustomed to this kind of stuff. My Da would always take me up in his hot air balloons, and I would rather not get into that..." she said, still refusing to admit to anyone her past, even after they know her secret.

"You must love your dad, huh? I loved my parents, but they were taken away from me, and Ed and Al-"

"Yeah, they told me about their mum. Ed was suspicious about me being a girl, and you can't let him know!" she said, and was hit with a wrench. "What the hell was that for?"

"I don't keep secrets. You should come out off your shell! Do something heroic and prove that women can do more than just sit idle! I'll help if you want, but all I'm gonna do is support you. Just tell me, is your real name Dylan?" she asked, Deryn still trying to get over this girls massive wrench-to-the-head power. She now knew why those two daft boys were afraid of her.

"Fine, but please don't tell. I could get kicked out of the Service, and my older brother Jaspert would be in big trouble, too."

"Alright, I promise, but not from Ed and Al. You will tell them, right?" she said, but sounding more like threatening, Deryn sighed and agreed.

"And to answer your question, my real name is Deryn Sharp, but everyone else knows me as Midshipmen Dylan Sharp, so call me Mr. Sharp when around everyone else. If you say just one word to anyone, I'll have you thrown overboard." Deryn threatened, and Winry just smiled and nodded, not even a squick phased from her threat. (Pretty scary, huh Deryn?/ Deryn: Why did you make her find out that way? That's embarrassing!/ Winry: Oh please, it was just a t-shirt, I didn't see anything important. I'm just glad I don't have to act like I don't know your a girl anymore. That was annoying. Though Amori, you could have eased up on the threat, that was kinda overkill./ Okay, Winry, but I knew you wouldn't really be phased considering the stunt I made you do last chapter./ Alek: That was kinda crazy./ Everyone else: *nods*)

"Alrighty then, Mr. Sharp, the Elrics are headed to a place called the 'Middy Mess' or something." she said, winking as she said Mr. Sharp, and Deryn nodded, holding back a laugh.

"It makes sense, seeing as it's the largest area and the only place they know the way to without getting into trouble. Now get out of here, I need to finish changing. I'll be out in a squick." Deryn replied, as she was still in the t-shirt. Winry giggled, and closed the door behind her as she left. Deryn looked down, wondering if she can trust her new roommate. "I sure hope so..." she muttered as she finished dressing and headed out to meet Winry and head over to the mess hall.

* * *

><p>I know it's not as long as my normal stories that tend to be over 5,000 words, but it's all because of school and writer's block and all other stuff. Special thanks to my readers, specificaly towards "MyNameIsAwesome" and "StopThatTimeRave", and all my friends and family supporting me.<p>

Deryn: *Off-screen* You hid the TV remote again!

I didn't hide it, I don't ever hide it, my little brother loses it. You'll have to control it manually. *gasps in realization* I bet you're saying I hid it cause you still hate me for last chapter!

Deryn: Not true! That's barking ridiculous and a waste of energy!

Winry: Shut up both of you before I get my wrenches!

Do that and I make you kiss Alek.

Deryn, Winry and Alek: DON'T YOU DARE!

Edward: *whispering to Alphonse* Why is Deryn against Winry kising Alek?

Alphonse: *whispering back* Because, Brother, she likes him, remember?

Edward: *slightly louder* Right, right.. *gets hit with a wrench* DAMN IT WINRY WHAT WAS THAT FOR!

Deryn: That wasn't Winry, that was me, so I hope you boys know that I CAN HEAR YOU! *throws wrench at Alphonse, who just barely manages to dodge*

Edward: ALL THE CHICKS HERE ARE PSYCHOS! QUICK AL, LET'S GET OUT OF HERE! *runs away, Alphonse following close behind*

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS VERY SHORT INSTALLMENT! BUT I HAVE TO GO AND GET ED NOW! BAIBAI! *runs after Ed with Winry and Deryn, all holding wrenches*

Dr. Barlow: Oh dear... I'm never going to learn Alchemy, am I?

Everyone: WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THE ALCHEMY!


	6. Chapter 6

Time for chapter 6! I wrote this in a hurry (I don't know why) so I'm hoping it comes out good.

Winry: Yay! Hey, you and Deryn haven't been arguing lately. Does that mean that you guys are friends again?

Amorinda + Deryn: Pretty much, yeah.

Edward: Finally, no more arguments!

Alek: I think we're all happy the arguing is over, Edward.

Alphonse: Yeah. Just out of curiosity, how did it happen?

Well, I made a really cool lanyard for her, and I based it off of her interests, flying. I made it with blue and white, for the sky and clouds. I was hoping she would like it and finally accept my many apologies.

Deryn: And I did. So can we all move on with this? I'm getting kind of bored.

Hai~! But anyways, I want to update for my awesome readers! (In all honesty, I only know that the two readers I mentioned last chapter are reading, and of course my friends and family supporting me, so if you read this please review so I can get your opinions!) I do not own either of these series. PLEASE STOP MAKING ME SAY THIS! _

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><p>Edward paced impatiently in front of the mess hall's doors. It shouldn't take that long to change a simple shirt. He remembered that it only took them about ten or so minutes to get to the mess hall, and the closet he and Al landed in was farther than the rooms. Even if Winry kept stopping to try and disassemble something on the way, they should have arrived in around six to eight minutes. He suddenly froze in his tracks, realizing that there hadn't been any transmutation reactions coming from the door. He was just about to walk in and find out why nothing was happening when he saw Winry and Dylan out of the corner of his eye. After waiting at least fifteen minutes, he had a right, at least in his mind, to yell at them.<p>

Alphonse suddenly burst through the doors. His tired eyes were filled with what seemed like fear, and he looked like he was about to collapse.

"Al, what's wrong?" Ed asked, looking at his younger brother and trying to help him stand a bit straighter. "Did you try a large transmutation? You know you can't do that yet, you aren't strong enough!" He was going to scold him more, but then he took a look inside the cafeteria. The tables and chairs had all been moved, save for one, which Dr. Barlow and several others seemed to be studying with interest.

"No, Brother, that's not it! I can't use alchemy at all!" he gasped, seemingly out of breath. Winry had already gone in and was looking at the table. It had a small transmutation circle on it, one of the simple ones that Ed and Al had used to make a doll for her on her birthday. Dylan was looking at it, too, and began trying to make one on another part of the table, until someone he seemed to recognize stopped him. It wasn't Dr. Barlow, but another man that Edward might have seen on the way to the bridge, but he couldn't remember.

"But that's impossible, and you know it!" Edward replied, motioning to his right arm. He had transmuted it only about an hour before, so how was it that Al couldn't perform a simple transmutation on a table made of similar components? He walked inside, Al following close behind. Al had regained enough of his strength to move on his own again, but he still appeared to be short of breath. Dr. Barlow noticed them both enter, and walked up to Ed, gaining everyone's attention, though she didn't gain it with an overly dramatic mini-speech. (Dr. Barlow: Will you please stop that!/ Don't make me get the lemons!/ Dr. Barlow: You wouldn't dare.../ Oh, I would./ Dr. Barlow: How rude... Alright, let's continue.)

"Ah, Mr. Elric, can you please try and explain to me why your brother is unable to use this alchemy, even though he claims that you used it a little while ago?" she said, concealing her irritation carefully.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, doc." Dylan had managed to escape the man and was now standing near Edward. "You remember, don't you? When I had to show you alchemy? To prove to you I wasn't lying?" Dr. Barlow raised an eyebrow towards Dylan, but he ignored her.

"Aye, but that was on your fancy metal arm," he replied, making her shift her confused yet interested gaze back to Ed, who cringed under her intimidating stare.

"Metal arm? I'm afraid metal limbs are impossible," she said, and suddenly a wrench flew past her face, narrowly missing her nose.

"It's not impossible! Why does everyone think that?" Winry shouted, and everyone's eyes were immediately on her.

"Meet Winry, the engineer I told you and the captain about before." Edward said, motioning to the blonde girl, who was currently holding an arsenal of wrenches. (WHAT THE HELL!)

"When you said she made replacements for your arm and leg, I didn't think you meant that they were made of metal," the boffin said, looking Winry over.

"Huh, could have sworn I mentioned that they were pure steel..." he murmured, and he noticed Dylan cringe out of the corner of his eye. The man he had gotten away from before had walked towards them, and was now standing by Dr. Barlow.

"You may have mentioned it, but she was probably thinking about something else and not listening to you. She tends to do that." he said. Edward looked to Dylan, who sighed.

"This here's Mr. Rigby, he works on the ratlines up on the spine," he said. Edward held out his hand, and Rigby went to shake it, but as soon as his hand touched Ed's, he retracted it.

"The lad's right, his arm's made of metal!" he said, surprise and shock mixing in his voice. Ed was wearing his gloves, but Mr. Rigby had shaken a lot of hands in his line of work, and not a single one was as stone hard as Edward's was. Ed took his own arm back as well, and Dr. Barlow looked at him with interest again.

"Is it possible that only you have the ability to use this alchemy? Why don't you show me what you showed young Mr. Sharp here?" she asked, and he nodded, then clapped his hands together.

"What are you praying for, lad? That other boy didn't do that." Mr. Rigby said.

"Al doesn't remember seeing the gate, so until he does remember, he can't do this either," Ed explained. "Besides, I don't pray to something I don't believe in. Al and I are atheists." The trio gave him a strange look, and Al nodded from afar. He then separated his hands, moving his left arm over his right one. At first, nothing happened, but after a second, a blinding blue light filled the room, capturing the attention of all the midshipmen still finishing their meals, who couldn't help but stare and possibly blind themselves. When the light faded, Ed's arm was turned into a full sword, from the elbow joint to the fingers, and a dozen crewmen stared at it. (A/N: If you read the manga or watch FMA Brotherhood, episode/chapter two shows the sword I'm talking about.) But even faster than the reaction, though it was pretty slow considering everything else Ed's done to it, was Winry's wrench to his head.

"Damn it Ed, you messed up my automail again! When are you going to stop doing that?" she complained.

"Give it a rest, will ya? You should know by now that I can turn it back!" he shouted, and was knocked out by what seemed to be a pipe wrench in a large size. (I actually dropped a large pipe wrench on somebody... indirectly../ Alek: How'd you pull that one off?/ Edward: More importantly, who did you whack?/ Um, you know how a toolbox has a lift-off-type thing? I stuck the pipe wrench on it and my mom lifted it and it landed on her foot.../ Alphonse: Was she alright?/ Alright is such a 'relative term'... She's still walking though! *everyone, including me, sweat-drops*)"Brother, if you are able to transmute your arm, maybe you could do something with the table?" Al suggested, changing the subject, and Edward shrugged.

"I could give it a shot, but I dunno what'll happen. My transmutation didn't happen as fast as it did when I showed Dylan, so it's possible that the longer we stay here in your world, the faster my ability to use Alchemy fades. I'm guessing that by the end of the day, I'll be fully unable to transmute, even if it's on my own arm," he said, managing to hide the sadness he felt. Winry looked at him, and restrained herself from throwing another wrench at him. She knew how much he loved alchemy and that it was like his whole life. If he lost that, he would only have her and Alphonse. She couldn't let that happen, so she decided that she would help out as much as she could. And she would try not to hit him on the head with her wrenches...as much. (Edward: OH, COME ON!/ Quit whining, shorty./ Edward: WHO YOU CALLING-!/ Winry: *interrupting long short-rant* Moving on!) Ed walked up to the large table with the Transmutation Circle in the center and examined it. After he got a feel for its mass and chemical make-up, he clapped his hands, or in this case a hand and metal blade as he didn't change it back yet, and tried to transmute it, but there was no reaction.

"Perhaps you should turn your blade back into an actual arm, with a hand and fingers?" Dr. Barlow suggested, though it was more like an order, and Ed slumped over.

"Right, I was gonna do that..." he muttered, and returned his arm to the way it was before, making all the midshipmen gape in awe yet again. He then clapped his hands together and tried to turn the table into a near life-size statue of himself. (Deryn: Near life-size? Like, he made himself shorter? Why would he want to do that?/ Actually, more like a slightly taller version of himself. He doesn't like the short thing./ Dr. Barlow: Then he should drink more milk!/ Edward: AS IF! *snatches three of Winry's wrenches and hits all three with one, then gets hit by Winry for taking them without permission*) He tried at least three times, then gave up.

"Try it on your arm again. Who knows, it might only work on something from your world," Mr. Rigby said, and Edward nodded, this time just changing the knuckles into spikes. It still worked, but the reaction was even slower that time than the one before.

"I knew it. Alchemy is fading, Al. Pretty soon I won't be able to use it," he said sadly.

"But that's impossible, isn't it?" Winry asked, and Edward shook his head.

"This world can't use Alchemy, because in our world, we use the life energy of those who died here. I'm amazed I've even been able to use it at all," he said, even sadder than before, and everyone stared at him in horror, Dylan especially.

Deryn and Winry looked at each other, then at Ed, both in a state of shock. She couldn't believe the words that daft boy had just said. Dead human energy? That's just ridiculous! Then again, everything he said up to that point had been even a little correct. But if he was telling the truth, that would mean that her Da had most likely been used by them for their strange rituals... 'No, he just scrambled his attic a wee bit when he somehow got over here...' she thought, denying his claims. Even though she knew the cost of human transmutation and knew that alchemy would soon be unusable, she wanted to give it a shot, to try and bring her Da back. She knew it was daft, but she wanted to prove him wrong about everything. She wanted her father back.

"Hey, Ed, do you have an alchemy book or something? Even though it seems to be impossible by this point, I want to learn more of it," she said, and Winry looked to her.

"I always carry one around. Don't ask me why, I just do." she said, and Edward looked at her funny. "Okay, fine! Other than the doll you guys made me it's the only keepsake of you I have left, alright! You never send me anything, so this is all I got!" she shouted, and everyone swiftly looked away, mostly to avoid being wrench'd (I made it up, okay?). She handed the book to Deryn, who thanked her and went to put it back in their now shared room.

"Hold it, Mr. Sharp." the lady boffin said, stopping her. She groaned and turned around to face the now approaching woman.

"Yes, ma'am?" she said, trying to hide her displeasure from the tall woman in the bowler hat. (Why a bowler hat? Why?/ Deryn: JUST MOVE ON!)

"I would like to read that book, if you do not mind," she said, holding out her hand for the musty old thing, and looked towards Winry for approval, who turned to Deryn and nodded, who in turn reluctantly handed it to her. Winry turned back to the lady boffin to warn the woman not to break it, unless, of course, she wanted another wrench to the face.

"Thank you Mr. Sharp, Miss Rockbell." she said courteously, then walked back towards Mr. Rigby. The two began to study it, though it was more like Dr. Barlow studying it and Mr. Rigby trying to peer over her shoulder.

"Psst, Deryn!" Winry whispered to her. "I have another copy. I bought it on my first trip to Central, just in case," she said.

"Then why did you threaten the lady boffin? You could have just given her the second copy!" she whispered back harshly, and Winry giggled.

"I did. Like I would trust somebody with the real book! It's falling apart at the seams! I know the best way to read it without breaking it, and I figured that strange woman would see you and want the book. We'll go back to the room later to read it, but first I want to look for Alek," she said, and Deryn wanted to take one of her wrenches and hit her with it.

"I wish you would have mentioned it earlier..." she grumbled. "Besides, why do you want to see that daftie?"

"It's because he's a so-called 'daftie', which I'm guessing means stupid or idiot, that I want to see him. I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind!" she said, polishing a wrench. Deryn rolled her eyes. She wanted to see the daft prince because she herself was daft! All of these people were!

"Alright, have it your way. We should probably tell the Elrics what he looks like so they can help make the search go faster." she said, and Winry nodded in agreement.

"Let me do that. He looked a bit like an Ishvalan, so I can just change the image around to fit him!" she said before running off to let the Elrics know. Deryn sighed, knowing that her theory was correct: they were all barking mad. She saw Edward freak out a bit while Winry was talking, but she fixed that rather quickly, then finished explaining to Alphonse. Deryn made two mental notes - one: never get on Winry's bad side and two: ask her later what an Ishvalan was. By the time Winry got back, the room had mostly cleared from the flying wrenches, including the recent one to Ed's face, and she doubted anyone wanted to get caught in the crossfire if she were to throw any more. Dr. Busk was going to be very busy with these loons aboard.

"Great! Now that the room has emptied a bit, it'll be easier to spot him!" she said, and immediately began to mingle around. After Ed regained his consciousness, the two Elrics began to look around as well. She decided to join in later, because at that minute, she was too tired to deal with the rest of her duties. She subconsciously began scanning the room from her spot for Alek, and instead spotted another strange person. She didn't recognize him, but even so, she didn't know every man aboard the great beastie. It was probably just a new guy she hadn't met yet. Ignoring the strange man, she went back to looking for Alek, and after ten minutes of nothing, she decided to go find Winry and head back to the room. She walked towards the Elric Brothers, who had also given up looking for Alek.

"Hey, have you boys seen Winry anywhere? It's getting kind of late, and I have duties to return to and I doubt she'll be able to find her way back to the room," she said, and Ed raised his eyebrow, then shrugged.

"Can't say I have, not since she knocked me out with that damn wrench of hers. I don't understand where she keeps getting those things from!" he complained, and Alphonse elbowed him.

"All I know is that she went walking towards that direction," Al said pointing to his left, "and so far she hasn't been seen back here yet. Think she found him and tailed him or something?" he asked, and Deryn shook her head. What if that strange man did something? He was going in the same direction that Al pointed to before about two minutes after Winry ran off. She decided not to think about it too much. For all she knew, it was just a coincidence.

"Thanks, I'll try to find her," she said before following the direction of Al's thumb. Both Ed and Al gave her strange looks. She scanned the area to find the female engineer, but after she reached the far wall and still didn't see her, she gave up and walked back to the boys, still thinking about the strange man. She didn't get a very good look at him, but she still felt that there was something weird about him. By the time she returned to the table with the circle, the two weren't there. She looked around, and saw them walking out the doors, in a very sneaky way. Did they just send her down there to escape? What were they planning to do?

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><p>Hope you guys enjoyed it! Here's a question for all readers: Who should the strange man be? Place your answers in the review! Just so you know, it can be a girl, because Deryn couldn't tell from the distance between them.<p>

Winry: Thanks for reading!

Deryn: There you are! Where were you?

Winry: I was in the bathroom, silly.

Deryn: ...You were on though.

Doesn't matter. It turned out awesome! Thanks for reading!

Deryn: What about the Elrics?

That was supposed to happen either way, so you'll have to wait until I come up with the next script. Also special thanks to stopthattimerave for editing my grammar fails you are awesome! =) Bai-Bai!


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, Chapter Seven is finally set! Hawkeye, you ready to go?

Hawkeye: Yes, sir!

Woah there, loosen up, it's just a story! No need to be all serious or anything. Actually, that would be nice... Anyways, let's get a move on.

Hawkeye: Alright.

ON WITH THE CHAPTER~!

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><p>"I can't believe you're here, Lieutenant!" Winry said happily as she and the blonde haired officer walked down the maze-like corridors of the Leviathan.<p>

"It is a big surprise, isn't it? And for the thousandth time, please just call me Riza," Hawkeye said with a smile. "So, where exactly are we?"

"Well, I don't exactly know myself. I just arrived a few hours ago, meaning that pretty soon that thing Edward calls 'the Truth' will be here. Hopefully by the end of the day, we can use all the help we can get..." Winry replied, thinking about earlier and the fact that soon, alchemy would be unusable. Riza saw the look on her face and thought against asking her about what she meant.

"Anyways," Hawkeye began. "How did you end up here, Winry?"

"I'm not too sure; it's all blank. The last thing I can remember is going to visit you and the Colonel in the hospital, when I was suddenly blinded by this huge flash of white light. I guessed that somebody nearby was performing a large transmutation, but all of a sudden I didn't feel ground beneath my feet, if that makes any sense. I tried to look around, but I was blinded by another light. Next thing I know, I'm in a strange room with a boy who looks almost like an Ishvalan peeking through the door curiously," she recalled, and seeing Riza's hand twitching near her holster, quickly added, "Don't worry, he didn't have red eyes. I think they were green or something, I can't remember right now. Anyways, he took me to the captain of this, um, I think they called it an 'airship', and he gave me a room to share with a g-boy named De-Dylan."

"You stuttered on the words 'boy' and 'Dylan'. Are you hiding something?" Hawkeye asked in a very intimidating tone. (Hawkeye: THE SCRIPT DIDN'T SAY THAT EARLIER!/ Sorry, I tend to throw in last second changes. Just keep going!)

"N-no, I'm not! It's just that my brain is still a little bit scrambled from the sudden transport, I guess," Winry said, and she guessed that if Deryn were there, she would have said something along the lines of 'nice save' or something. (Breaking the fourth wall, outside of an author's note! Yes, I am that awesome. XD)

The lieutenant sighed. "I'm going to trust you on this one, but only because my head hurts. Do you know of an area where I can take a nice warm shower and then a nap?"

"Can't help with the shower, but I guess I can take you to the room I'm staying in...if I can, um, find it..." she mumbled off, trying to figure out where they were. "So, how'd you end up here, Miss Hawkeye?"

"First off, it's still Riza," she said, sweat dropping on the back of her head. "And to answer your question, I'm not too sure either. I was at the hospital with the Colonel, Sergeant Breda and Warrant Officer Falman, then the same thing happened to me: a bright flash of white, and I couldn't feel anything, almost like I was just floating along in the air. But before the second flash, I felt this strange...I don't know, like something passing through me; it was creepy." She shivered. "Then I woke up in that large room, and I was somehow back in my uniform and my wounds were healed." Her left hand motioned to where the cut on her neck should have been from their earlier battle, and her right hand gestured to the blue army uniform that she always wore when she was working.

All of a sudden, Winry heard footsteps coming from in front of them, and the two froze. Winry told Hawkeye to stay there while she saw if it was an officer or not. Riza followed behind silently anyways, just to be safe, and had drawn her pistol from its holster. The two popped out of nowhere from behind the corner, and winry found that it was only Aleksander. She breathed a sigh of relief, but before she could do anything, Riza had her gun trained on him, and he dropped all the equipment he had been holding.

"Riza, wait! This is Alek, the boy I told you about! Don't shoot! One bullet is enough for him, so put it down!" she said, stepping out in front of the gun. It kind of reminded her of when she was about to shoot Scar, after she found out what he had done to her parents, and he had tried to kill her. But then Edward jumped in front of her to protect her, and Al took a moment of opportunity and tackled him. She cried like there was no tomorrow then.

"Winry? How did you find out about that?" he asked her, and she gave him a 'don't think I'm saving your life without cost' look. She reached into her pocket, and he braced himself for the wrench that he knew was coming. But this time, she didn't pull anything out. He opened one eye, and saw that Riza was slowly putting her gun down, staring directly into his eyes.

"I should have trusted you when you said he wasn't Ishvalan, no red eyes," she commented, placing the pistol back into its holster. Winry looked to her and nodded gratefully, then spun around, taking Alek off guard as she slapped him.

"Explain why you didn't tell me you were injured! My parents were doctors; I could have helped you!" she said, and Riza only sighed. That was Winry for you.

"I didn't want you to worry, not after I heard about everything you'd been through! Besides, I'm tired of adding to everyone else's burdens. So, who told you? Klopp? Volger? Barlow?" he asked, forgetting to add 'Master', 'Count', and 'Doctor' to the beginning of each of their names. Being surrounded by airman all the time helped him with his constant princely behavior.

Hawkeye walked up to the two. "It isn't an added burden to tell someone of your injury. Stubbornness won't help anything. Trust me, I know a man who was way too stubborn, and that cost him greatly," she said sadly, and Alek remembered the pistol she had pointed at him earlier.

"That gun of yours; it's a normal compressed air-pistol, right?" he asked, and she gave him a curious look.

"I'm not sure what that that is, but my gun uses gunpowder," she replied, and relief mixed with a hint of fear filled his eyes.

"It's a good thing you didn't shoot, ma'am. Otherwise we would all be up in flames by now," he said, and the two girls just stared at him. "This ship is filled with hydrogen, just one small leak-"

"And the ship will explode," Hawkeye finished, and he looked at her funny. "What's wrong? I serve in the military alongside State Alchemists; I'm used to all their science talk. I even work under one."

"That explains the uniform," Alek muttered, and Winry resisted the urge to smack him again. "Well, I suppose you'll show her around, right Winry?"

"Well, I'm trying to...Quick question, um, you wouldn't happen to know where Dylan's room is, would you?" she asked politely and he sighed.

"Sure, I'll take you there...Wait, are you bunking with him? Ooh, he's the one who told you about my rib!" Alek accused, and Winry threw her hands up in frustration.

"Alright, yes, but only because I threatened to beat him with a wrench if he didn't! And I am bunking with him, at least until I get my own room, until we get to the next stop and I get off, or until I end up working here and they move another bed in for me to sleep on," she replied casually, like she didn't care about sleeping in the same room as a boy.

"I see. Well, the room is this way, and I hope you don't mind if I continue to my destination. I have to drop these off at my own room," he said, picking up the toolbox and heading off down a separate corner, the two Amestrians following close behind. Winry hoped that having Hawkeye aboard wouldn't be too much a problem for the captain, or even for Deryn. She wondered how she would handle this...

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><p>That's it, nice job, Hawkeye. You were awesome.<p>

Hawkeye: Thanks, it took me a little while to get accustomed to this, but I got the hang of it fast.

Well, That's all for now. I know it was short, and I apologize for the wait, but I am having a lot of trouble! ^^; Anyways, special thanks to Stopthattimerave for editing and Mynameisawesome(Chickwiththepurpleguitar) for waiting patiently! BYE NOW!


	8. Update: I AM STILL ALIVE!

Hey everyone, I'm alive!

I greatly apologize for letting this story fade and die. Ever since I re-enrolled in public school, I've been unbearably busy. But I swear, things will pick up again!

As to not updating sooner, my computer had broken. The power input slot had broken and we weren't able to get it fixed for the entire time I was gone. But now it is back! I can write again! Huzzah!

In reards to the story, I have noticed that I was getting carried away with adding people in. I'm sure the Leviathan can't carry too many more people. So, I shall reread everything to this point and decide where exactly I shall go with the plot, using a fresh mind. I thank all the people who have been following and eagerly awaiting the next installment so patiently! I promise that there will be an update somtime in December or January. Thank you all for being so patient and liking my story enough to be this patient!

-Sapphire 


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